Heroes & Sidekicks
by Megget18
Summary: Royce Callahan is new to Beacon Hills. She finds herself drawn to a boy called Stiles and his best friend Scott. There's something about them, some secret that Royce is itching to discover, but the boys realize that she has secrets of her own. Will they be able to find ways to trust each other? Will their secrets be revealed? And what does she know about werewolves and the alphas?
1. Prologue

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

Author's Note: Hello! This is an idea I've had rolling around in my head for a while. It takes place right about where the second season ended. I have a lot of it outlined and written so I'm aiming for frequent updates. Hope you enjoy it. For those of you who have read my Supernatural story, I apologize for the lack of updates I lost my notebook, but I'm hoping to get back to it and finish it soon. If you get a chance to review, I'd be very appreciative!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters.

Prologue

It had been an abnormally quiet week in Beacon Hills and it was starting to make Stiles itch. There was something about it that just unnerved him. It hadn't been quiet since before the night that his best friend, Scott, went out to search for a missing body and Scott returned as a werewolf. Since then his life had been a crazy whirlwind of hunters and kanima, of homicidal teenagers and terminally crazy grandparents, and let's not forget the werewolves—what felt like more and more werewolves taking over his tiny town everyday led by psychotic red-eyed alphas.

It had been only months since Scott was turned and weeks since Stiles had started feeling like he was drowning in wave after wave of overwhelming supernatural situations. Weeks since he wasn't terrified that either he or someone he loved would be killed. Weeks since he felt as if he could breathe. Finally, he had surfaced—the kanima was gone and the danger momentarily evaded, but Stiles couldn't stop the vigilance. The sense that any minute he could be pulled back underwater.

Stiles had lived sixteen years of calm before the crazy storm had finally hit, but this time he didn't think the lull would last so long. It had only been a week of calm, but Stiles wanted to be prepared for a hurricane.

"Dude, are you even listening to me?" Scott's voice broke through the rapid fire thoughts zinging in Stiles' head.

"Just because I'm not looking at you doesn't mean I'm not listening to you." Stiles responded quickly. He squinted as he turned away from the shop windows that they were walking past to where Scott's head was bobbing in and out of the sun.

"Then what was I saying?"

"The usual. I miss Allison blah blah blah, werewolf troubles blah blah, horrible plan to get her back blah." Stiles flashed a quick smile and raised his eyebrows. "Did I miss anything?"

"It's nice to know that I have your support."

"That's what I'm here for." Stiles said, walking backwards ahead of Scott.

"I was kind of hoping for some input."

"Are you actually going to listen to me this time and follow what I say?"

Scott considered the question. "Probably not."

"Then what's the point?" Stiles said and spun around just in time to push through the glass door of one of the shops.

"So you can feel like the smart one." He called after Stiles. Scott looked at the sign above the door and sighed before following Stiles inside. The bell rang through the dusty shop, signaling to Stiles that his friend was close behind.

"That's not even in question." Stiles answered as he started scanning shelf after shelf of comic books.

"When you said you wanted to stop somewhere you didn't say we were coming here." Scott whined, choosing to ignore Stiles' comment.

"If you want to drive yourself around and avoid my errands, I suggest you get your own car. Until then, don't mock." Stiles stated while walking down an aisle he seemed all too familiar with.

"I'm just saying—you really want to make lacrosse captain next year you might want to cut down your hours at the comic book store."

Stiles paused and looked back at Scott. "Fair point." Stiles began walking again on a strategic path to the back wall. "Though, I've been thinking about that. Despite the championship game, do I really have a shot? I mean between you, Isaac, Boyd, and Jackson our team is littered with were—" Scott shoved him slightly in a warning for him to watch how loudly he was speaking. Stiles looked around and rethought his words. "Okay…with lunar enhanced individuals who have superhuman athleticism." Stiles finally reached his destination and scanned the wall for the new issue of his favorite comic. He found it and grabbed a copy before turning back to Scott. "But to be fair you guys seem to be unable to make it to practice or even school half the time so maybe you'll get kicked off the team and I won't have to worry." Stiles grinned and looked around for Jimmy—the owner who usually gave him a discount.

His eyes flitted quickly around the whole store, but before he found Jimmy they landed on a girl across the way flipping through the stacks of older comics. A look of curiosity spread over Stiles face which concerned Scott.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Do you recognize her?" Stiles nodded at the girl without ever looking away from her.

Scott looked back at her and smirked. "No, do you?" Stiles shook his head no and Scott gave his approval in the simplest of terms. "She's hot."

"Yea, way too hot to be in here. At least not without me having seen her before."

"What? Hot girls aren't allowed to be into comics?"

"No, not the ones in this town. Otherwise I'd be getting a lot more action."

"More? You mean any?"

Stiles didn't respond. Instead he let his eyes slide back to her—absorbing the sight of her sleek, brown hair that gleamed in the sun streaking through the window. She was just the right height with legs that seemed perfect in her tight jeans. He tank top showed off toned arms and a flat torso. He even thought he caught sight of a tattoo sprawling across her upper back but he couldn't make it out. She had curves in the right places and yet Stiles was drawn to her face. Her eyes were so bright that Stiles could tell they were lightly colored from a distance—some kind of blue or green but he couldn't be certain of which. They were beautiful either way. She had the kind of skin that made you want to touch it and a nose that was small, but seemed almost crooked, like it had been broken before. This only served to make her features more interesting, not any less attractive. A light spatter of freckles covered the brim of her nose across her high cheekbones. She was more beautiful than she had any right to be—as though she had completely bypassed the awkward stage of puberty. Stiles didn't want to look away.

Scott smacked him on the arm to get his attention. "What are you so concerned? I thought you were still hung up on Lydia."

Stiles shrugged. "Well yea, but I'm not blind."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Can we get out of here?"

Stiles nodded and made his way toward the register. He held a quick conversation with Jimmy as he bought the comic. On the way out of the store, he chanced one last look at the mystery girl so he'd remember her face.

It was as though she could feel his gaze, as she caught his eyes with her own shortly after he looked over. Instead of sneering or scoffing and walking away as was the typical reaction Stiles received from girls, she held his gaze and flashed a friendly smile. Stiles was so surprised that he walked into the ends of one of the shelves, knocking several comics to the ground in the process. He scrambled to pick everything up as Scott looked on in slightly amused horror. Once the last comic was in place, Scott yanked Stiles up and led him towards the door. Stiles snuck one last look at the girl before being shoved out the door. He saw her eyes dart away from him and back to her reading material, but even with just the slightest of glances there was no doubt about the wide grin that was left on her face.

He briefly wondered, if not hoped, that he would be able to see her again and maybe erase that first impression, but was completely unaware of how soon he would get that chance.


	2. Chapter 1

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hey guys! Hope you all enjoyed the prologue to this story! Here's the actual first chapter! I'm hoping to get Chapter 2 out by Friday just so you know. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter One

Royce Callahan hated feeling disoriented. She liked knowing exactly where she was and where she fit in that place at all times. Since she had arrived in Beacon Hills a week and a half ago, she had not felt as though she fit once and it had her filled with nerves that she hadn't felt for years. Standing amidst the bustling hallways of Beacon Hills High just before the first bell was not helping. Maybe it would have felt less crazed if she had joined at the beginning of the year—during the time when even kids who had lived in the town for their entire lives were deciphering where they needed to be and when. But no, she had been thrown into the sophomore class mid-semester, leaving her alone in her disorientation.

She leaned against the metal locker that had been assigned to her twenty minutes ago—the one that it had taken her the full twenty minutes to find between dodging students and trying to read her ancient map of the hallways.

She had planned to only look at the map once and quickly memorize it so that she wasn't wandering the halls like a lost tourist. The fact that the map had not been updated to accommodate for major renovations to the school from years before had not factored into her plan. She should have taken the administrator up on the offer for an escort to class.

She looked up from the map to study the hallway and at least figure out what direction she should be heading toward. While taking in the numbers printed across the doorways, a familiar face caught her eye.

It was him—the cute guy from the comic book store. And he was looking at her. She smiled at him, which seemed to make him panic. He dropped one of his hands from his backpack in surprise. He immediately realized what he did and tried to catch all of the books and papers that started spilling out when he leaned forward. She laughed, not in a mean way. She actually found his spazziness cute. Geeky can be very hot. She decided to put her own frustrations aside and help.

She shoved her map into her back pocket and crossed the hall to kneel down in front of him. He didn't notice she was there until he realized one of his piles of paper had disappeared when he was reaching to shove it back into his bag.

"Oh, um, here. I picked up your…" Royce turned her head to read what she just realized were unusual folders, "case files?"

She straightened her head to look at him and held the folders up for him to take. He looked at her skeptically with his mouth hanging open. He slowly took the folders from her hand. "Uh, yea, they're…they are for a—a research paper. Just old case files for a paper on local true crime." He tucked the folders tightly into his bag where no one else could possibly see them.

"Okay. I wasn't trying to pry. Just to help." Royce stood and brushed off her jeans, more out of a self-conscious need to do something with her hands than to actually clean her jeans. She started to back away.

"No—sorry! You did!" The boy zipped his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Thank you. You just surprised me."

"Yea? I don't look like the type to help?"

"You're on a _higher_ level than the girls around here who usually don't even notice me on the ground." He admitted.

She felt like it was a weird compliment. She decided to bypass it. "So you spend a lot of time on the ground?"

He laughed. "More than I'd like to admit."

She nodded with a small smile on her face. As much as she wanted to keep talking to him, she had to figure out where her class was. She moved a few steps backwards to restart her search when he spoke up.

"Can I return the favor?" he asked.

"How?"

"I was watching you—."

"Watching me?" She cut him off with the question. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"No! No, I…not watching. I noticed…you need help finding your class?"

"Am I that obvious?"

"Depends on how you define obvious."

"Clear. Evident. Prominent. Glaring. Conspicuous. Overt. Blatant. Etc."

"Yea, that about covers it—that's how lost you looked. Where's your first class?" He moved closer to her peer over her shoulder at the map that she was holding. He looked it over and promptly took it from her. "This is useless." He crumpled it up and threw it in the trashcan at the edge of the door inside one of the classrooms.

"I have chem. With Mr. Harris—room 118." She read to him from the schedule taped to the bottom of one of her notebooks.

"Nice. Me too. It's just down that hallway and around the corner—two doors down. We can walk together if you want." he offered.

Royce smiled. "Yea, that would be great." But as she answered, she saw his eyes flick away from her face and focus completely on something else.

"Great. Just give me a second," he told Royce without even looking back at her. She barely had time to react before he took off down the hallway towards a petite redhead wearing a skirt that was way too short and heels that were way too high. "Lydia!" he called to her as he skidded to a halt in front of the girl's locker. She barely acknowledged the boy, but it didn't impede his efforts to get her full attention.

Royce sighed. This was clearly going to take more than a minute. With his directions, she figured she could find her way to class. She wasn't here to flirt with boys anyway. She looked back at him one last time and then followed his directions to chemistry.

She found the classroom with relative ease and took a seat towards the back. She took out a notebook and the textbook that she had received from the front office and started flipping through.

The bell rang. Royce noticed the boy hadn't made it to the classroom yet. Mr. Harris started his lesson. She could tell off the bat that he was kind of a prick. Her point was proven a minute later when the boy stumbled into the classroom and tried to quietly take a seat.

"Mr. Stilinski, did you have something better to do than to show up on time to my class this morning?"

"I usually do," the boy joked, but Harris didn't appreciate it. "Sorry," he added when he realized that it didn't land. He cringed like he knew what was coming next.

"Feel free to take another seat Mr. Stilinski. You already have one in this afternoon's detention."

"Oh, come on!" the boy protested.

"Would you like one in tomorrow's as well?"

The boy seemed to know that any answer he gave would just do more harm. He quietly slumped into his seat and let his head fall to the table that he sat behind. Royce felt bad for the guy, but he brought it on himself when he went after the redhead.

* * *

Royce made it through the rest of the school day without attracting too much attention to herself. She found her classes with the help of other teachers. She sat quietly in class and at lunch as to observe her new surroundings. She avoided delving questions about her past through chitchat with other students. And she saw the cute comic book boy in several of her classes, though she didn't talk to him again.

By the time the end of the school day rolled around, Royce felt good about getting caught up in all of her classes except one. Harris was the only teacher unwilling to offer her any help. As soon as the last bell rang, she stopped at her locker to sort through her books and then made a beeline for Harris's classroom.

She got to the room, gave a brief knock of warning, and opened the door. As soon as she stepped inside, she could tell that she had interrupted something. Harris was looming over the comic book boy, most likely yelling at him about something. She stopped in the doorway, feeling awkward from the glare that Harris shot at her.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

She narrowed her eyes. Why was he such a dick? "Hi, I was hoping you could point me in the right direction of some make-up work so that I don't stay behind in your class for too long. I just started here today."

Harris shot the boy a look that clearly signaled that they weren't finished and approached Royce. "Why is it that _you_ are the one _stupid_ enough to start at a school in the middle of a semester and _I_ end up the one having to suffer for it?" he griped. He walked towards his desk and rummaged through the drawers.

Royce followed. "It was my evil plan actually. To get uprooted from everything I know and sent here _just_ so I can punish _you_," she said in a voice that was intentionally too sweet. The boy laughed. Her teacher did not.

Harris stopped to shoot her a jaw-clenched glare that was meant to intimidate, but she just smiled back.

"Well, let me return the favor." He slammed the drawer shut with one hand and carrying a notebook with the other. He walked to the back of the room and she assumed she was supposed to follow. "That notebook has the date and name of every assignment from this semester. This," he said, pointing to a giant recycle bin, "is where the extra sheets of every assignment has been thrown for it to be recycled at the end of the year. You are to sort through this bin to find every assignment listed in this lesson plan to date." He handed her the leather bound notebook. "You will complete each assignment and turn them in by the order they were given. Earliest first until you're caught up." Harris smirked when he finished speaking.

She looked back and forth between the notebook and the recycle bin. "Ya know, you could save us both a lot of trouble—you grading, me doing work—and just give me an A for the semester." Royce smiled brightly, assuming her good mood would piss him off more than anger would. She was right. The smirk dropped from his face.

"No."

She shrugged. "Fair enough." She looked into the bin and started pushing the papers around. "Thanks so much Mr. Harris. This is very green of you."

Harris turned back towards his desk and she dropped the act. She could feel the boy watching as her shoulders and head slumped heavily.

"Mr. Harris, I think my punishment could be well spent helping her find and go over the assignments," He offered.

Harris paused in consideration. Finally, he flicked his hand in a gesture that said 'very well' and the boy joined Royce at the back of the room.

Royce smiled at him and mouthed 'thank you'. He nodded back with a grin.

Harris got up from his desk, gathering his things. "When the two of you have collected the assignments and cleaned any papers from the floor, you may leave. I have better things to do," he said and walked swiftly out of the room.

Royce sat back in disbelief. "Ya know I can see why he became a teacher—it's clear how much he loves the work and his students."

"Yup, you hit the nail on the head with that one."

They both looked up from the papers at the same time to catch each other in a smile.

"You really don't have to stay. I can do this myself," Royce offered.

"That wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me."

"So you're a gentleman?"

"Sometimes," he held out his hand for her, "I'm Stiles, by the way."

Royce raised her eyebrows and stared at his out-stretched hand. Finally, she nodded and slipped her hand into his. It was warm and larger than she expected. An inexplicable tingle shot up her spine as soon as they touched. "Royce," she replied. They shook hands gently as they officially met.

"Pretty."

"Thanks. I didn't exactly choose it though."

"Maybe not, but it suits you."

Royce laughed. "Wow, so smooth. When did that happen? Last time we talked you were practically throwing your books on the floor."

"I've grown a lot since this morning."

"Clearly." Royce said. She looked down to where her hand was still tucked in his. "Unfortunately, I'm probably going to need this back," she said in reference to her hand.

"Right." He released his grip. He immediately looked down at the papers spread between them, avoiding her eye contact.

"Thank you for helping," Royce offered quietly after several minutes of silence.

He finally looked back up at her. "No problem."

"So, what can you tell me about this place? Any dirty little town secrets?"

"More than you'd believe, I'm sure."

"Well, come on. We've got time. Fill me in."

For the next hour and a half, Stiles regaled Royce with various stories and details of the town. He made sure to avoid all things werewolves and supernatural. It was surprisingly harder than he expected it to be. She enjoyed talking to him so much that she barely noticed the work that they were doing and the fact that they were almost done. Stiles couldn't believe how easy she was to talk to and how comfortable he felt.

"Okay, there's no way that's true. You're just trying to put one over on the new kid."

"I swear to you, I'm not. Look it up."

"Does that happen a lot here? A mountain lion attack? Or was that the first time?"

"First I've seen. The thing almost ate my dad."

"Oh, jeez! Is he okay?

"Yea, he's okay. More scarred by his recent run-in with a teenage murderer."

"What? What kind of town did I move to?"

"You should have done your research before coming here!" He said in a sing song rhythm.

"Clearly. I should have known something was up when we were trying to get my transfer papers in order and there were issues because the principal was missing."

Stiles took a long pause like he was trying to come up with something to say. "I heard he was sick—like really bad and suddenly."

"That's awful."

"Eh, he was kind of a dick," he blurted out like he forgot she was listening.

"Wow, speaking ill of the terminally ill. You are way darker than I anticipated."

"This town has a way of warping people." Stiles seemed to get lost in his thoughts. "Anyway, let's talk about you."

"I don't think I'm nearly as interesting as all that seems to go on here."

"I'll bet that's not true."

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

Stiles smiled. Before he could ask her any questions, the door to the room creaked open. A head popped through the crack in the door. Royce recognized him as the boy Stiles was with at the comic book store. He quickly looked around the room until he saw them alone on the floor.

"Stiles! What are you doing?" the guy asked.

Royce could see Stiles silently signaling for his friend to go away, but the kid wasn't getting the picture. "What?" Stiles finally hissed when the kid didn't get the hint.

"Dude, I need you! Come on!"

"I'm in the middle of something." Stiles responded, nodding at Royce.

She decided to speak up. "Hi, Royce Callahan."

"Scott McCall, nice to meet you."

"Same" She gave him a little wave.

"Sorry, but Stiles and I have something important to do." Scott told her. Stiles shrugged like he had no idea what that important something could be. "With Derek." Scott added.

"I'm doing something important now!" Stiles explained to Scott. "And I told her I'd help. So Scott, I'll meet you when I'm done."

Scott stood in the doorway, unwilling to take that as the final answer. Royce watched the two of them, highly amused.

"Stiles, I'm good. You can go," Royce offered. Stiles hesitated, but he didn't have much of a choice. "I swear. I'm almost done. Thanks so much."

Stiles nodded and walked over to Scott. He looked back at Royce when he got to the door. "You should sit with us at lunch tomorrow," he suggested.

"I'd love to." She smiled.

"Great," he said and with a cute little wave he left the room.

Royce kept smiling as she finished her assignment. She smiled through cleaning up the room and through packing up her things. She smiled as she walked her way through the school and the streets and the path through the woods. She kept smiling all the way home until she stood outside the beat up building and the last remnants of her afternoon with Stiles dissipated.

Royce straightened up and clenched her jaw before making her way inside. By her third step through the door, she felt someone watching her from the top of a shadowy stairwell. Royce froze.

"How are things progressing?" The figure asked. The voice was low and authoritative.

"Slow, but successful. I've identified the beta as instructed." Royce reported.

"And?"

"And I believe you were correct—he's the key to infiltrating the pack. He's our best chance at getting to the Alpha."


	3. Chapter 2

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hello there! I said I would update on Friday and here it is. Though it is later than I planned. But I hope you enjoy it. By the by, who else watched Dylan O'Brien killin' it on New Girl and looking hot as ever? I did and I enjoyed it very much. But back to Teen Wolf, read and review if you have time! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters.

Chapter Two

The figure emerged from the shadows and Royce came face to face with one of her leaders, James. "Follow me. You need to debrief to the rest of the pack, " he ordered.

Royce sighed. "Do we have to do this right now? Can I at least put my stuff down and get changed?"

James let out a low growl—a legit wolfish growl.

"Jeez, fine. Lead the way," Royce surrendered. She followed him down a long hallway.

She was still getting used to the house and it honestly creeped her out. The floors creaked with every step and she felt like it might give way at any minute. They were squatting in a large Victorian style house buried deep in the woods—she imagined it was beautiful at one point in time with its the sweeping ceilings and sash windows, but not anymore. Now it was all cobwebs and decay. They had been there since they first arrived in Beacon Hills and she had no idea how the pack had found it so quickly.

James entered the largest room in the house, what Royce imagined had once been a large lounge or ballroom or something. She followed to find it filled with the entire pack.

Royce felt every eye on her. She knew it was her pack, but she would have dared anyone to try to be the center of attention in a room full of alphas and not be intimidated.

"Seriously? Were you guys just standing here quietly, waiting for me to get back _all_ day?" She asked to no one in particular.

One of the older women of the pack, Cara, stepped forward to talk to Royce. She was a head-turner with crimson hair and deep green eyes, She was somewhere in her early thirties and had been born a werewolf, not made. She had a close relationship with Royce. Royce saw Cara as an older sister type of figure, which made dealing with the entire pack like this much easier.

"Royce, did you find out any important information for us today?" She asked gently.

"Not much more information than we've already learned. I did, however, make contact with Scott McCall—the beta whose name the two young wolves from the woods divulged under your questioning."

"Did you see the those two at the school today?" A voice asked, but Royce couldn't tell who spoke.

"I didn't"

"You need to be cautious. Make sure they don't recognize you." That was James.

"They won't. I stuck to the shadows that night. I did not agree with the plan of action for them."

"Even so, you must be on your highest guard with them." Another voice—a woman's this time.

"I get it. You don't need to tell me over and over considering they wouldn't be a problem if not for you." Her hostility was directed mainly towards James who was a big part of the reason that the two runaways were now a problem. "You could have used them, invited them into our ranks and gotten information. But instead, you scared them _so_ much that they ran right back to their Alpha."

"That was an unexpected outcome," James spoke up. "For runaways, they had an unprecedented amount of loyalty to the Alpha that they were supposedly fleeing from."

"Well, next time instead of threatening them and their Alpha to get information, maybe you should actually see what they want. If you butter them up, they are more likely to talk. Threaten their friends and you will get nothing! That's basic teen logic—they will do the exact opposite of what they are ordered to do!"

"Did I ask for your opinion?" James roared.

Royce didn't flinch, but she _did_ back down.

"Will you be able to complete your mission or not?" He asked calmly, as though he hadn't just shouted.

"Yes, sir, I've become friendly with one of McCall's allies. I believe that if I continue the relationship it will lead me to McCall and then the Alpha."

"What ally?" Cara asked.

"Huh?"

"Who is this ally?" she repeated.

Royce hesitated. For whatever reason she didn't want to reveal information about Stiles to her pack. "What does it matter?"

"It could become useful in the future."

Royce swallowed dryly. "His name is Stiles. He's just a friend of McCall's. He's human. Really nothing special—at all." In terms of what her pack deemed valuable, Royce was telling the truth, but the words felt like a lie to her as they came out of her mouth.

"How long do you estimate until you infiltrate the pack?" James asked.

She scoffed. "Too early to tell. More than one day."

There was a long silence. Royce fidgeted as she waited for the next question. She hated this. She had stood around during these debriefs before with the rest of her pack, but she had never been at the center of one. She never realized how awful it was.

"You are dismissed." James finally said, a little too begrudgingly for Royce's taste.

Royce nodded and took of for her room as the rest of her pack broke from its tight circle to mingle. She heard footsteps follow behind her as she started for the stairs. She whirled around to come face to face with Cara.

Cara touched her arm. "Royce, darling, you know you can feel safe with us. You've been with us long enough despite your youth. You can trust us," she promised.

"Of course." Royce nodded to her mentor.

"Then why don't you tell me what you were holding back in there?"

"Nothing." Royce responded immediately.

"Liar," Cara accused firmly. She didn't seem angry, but almost hurt at Royce's distrust.

"It's nothing vital and will not affect the mission," Royce promised.

"It may not be vital to the mission, but it's clearly important to you. I just want to be sure that you're okay—this is your first assignment. Did we give you more than you could handle?"

"No!" Royce protested. "Though I think the best approach is to just approach Scott. He seems like a reasonable kid—I'm sure he would bring us to the Alpha if he knew our intentions." She looked down at her feet, just wanting the conversation to end.

"It's easier to get a feel for a person if they don't know they are being judged. You know why we don't want our presence known." Cara quirked her head to the side in that amazing doglike way as though she could see into your soul. "Is it…are you feeling guilty? Do you have feelings for this boy?"

"What?" Royce croaked. An image of Stiles with his sarcastic grin popped into her head and she couldn't shake it. She hoped she wasn't that obvious.

"This Scott? We've heard impressive things of him—I can understand if you are attracted to him. It can be hard to suppress feelings for a strong, young beta." Cara offered her support.

"Oh! Um…yea, you're—well, you got it. I just met him briefly, but I couldn't deny the uh…pull I felt towards him. I didn't think the others would approve, but I swear I won't let it affect my mission." Royce lied through her teeth and took the way out that Cara had served up for her.

"I trust you won't. But please come to me if you need to talk."

Royce nodded and Cara left her alone with a quick kiss on the cheek.

Royce made her way to her room and started to change into more comfortable clothes. Her shirt was off and she was digging through her bag for a new one when her door swung open.

Royce stopped and spun to face the would-be intruder, her task momentarily forgotten.

"Looks like I have perfect timing." Ryan smirked from the doorway. He leaned against it like he was posing for a cover photo, which was fitting since he looked like he belonged in an Abercrombie ad. Dark hair, tanned skin, and chiseled features that Royce actually found incredibly boring. Or maybe she was just confusing his looks with his personality.

"Get out!" Royce barked. She grabbed her nearest shirt and tugged it on.

"Don't be rude. I thought you and I could have some alone time," he said as he approached and took hold of her hand.

It had been like this for two years, when Ryan had first noticed that Royce was more than just a bratty little tomboy. In the pack, they were the closest to each other's ages, he being two years her senior, and that seemed to make him think that they were destined to be together in the long run. Royce vehemently disagreed.

"No thanks." She yanked her hand away. "For the thousandth time, you and I are not going to happen."

"We will if the pack calls for it."

Royce made a gagging sound. "You're disgusting."

"And you are in denial. How do you not see how good you and I could be?" He paused for an answer that she never gave. "What's so great about this Scott?" Ryan spat.

That _did_ get an answer. She practically pounced on him. "What? How?"

"I heard you and Cara." He said and shrugged.

Royce stormed toward him and started shoving him at the door. "Don't you _ever_ eavesdrop on my private conversations again! My life is none of your business. I find you to be a pathetic excuse for an alpha and if I ever find you in my room or my business again, I will castrate you in a way that it will never heal!" she shouted. She sent him through the doorway with one last shove and slammed it in his face.

She clenched her fist and fought the intense urge to open the door back up and sink her claws into his side. She took a deep breath and shuddered off all of the feelings of Ryan touching her. She spent the rest of the night buried in makeup schoolwork and went to sleep thinking about Stiles.

* * *

The next day at school, Royce spent most of the morning trying to avoid thinking of or talking to Stiles. She wanted to see him again, but every time he got close the picture of her pack bearing down on her—or worse on him—shot through her mind. She didn't want to risk getting too attached and getting him hurt.

All of her avoidance didn't keep him from tracking her down though. At her locker after the lunch bell, she couldn't duck away in time.

"Hey, I haven't seen you all day!" Stiles lamented.

"I know. I just…I've been trying to catch up on work."

"If you need any help, I'm all yours."

"Good to know," she said with a smile. She looked away from his eager face to pull out some books from her locker.

"Well, even with your work you still have to eat. Lunch?"

Royce paused. "Right. Lunch. Just you and me?"

She could feel him move to get in her eye-line, but she refused to look at him.

"You, me, and probably Scott."

Scott—the one that she needed to get close to. This was her in and the pack would be furious if she gave up the opportunity.

"Oh, Scott too? Great, I'm in!" she responded and closed her locker with a clang.

Stiles narrowed his eyes, confused by her change in demeanor. "Great." He drew the word out slowly.

They walked down the hall together in silence. Royce didn't start any conversation in fear that he would distract her from her goal and he was thrown off by the complete personality shift that she seemed to have gone through since yesterday afternoon. Maybe he misjudged her or maybe she was nervous—he couldn't pinpoint it and it was grating on him.

"Scott and I usually sit here," he said once they reached the cafeteria. He pointed to a table towards the back. "If you want to grab your food and meet us back here."

Royce nodded. "Sounds good." And she took off, needing to figure out why she was acting like such an ass. She scanned the food options and loaded her tray without really seeing what she was grabbing.

It was time to get over it. She was about to meet Scott for more than a brief second and she knew she couldn't get on his good side if she acted like a spazz in front of Stiles again. She could be friends with him without jeopardizing the mission—in fact; it was for the good of the mission. She wouldn't get attached and he wouldn't get hurt. Friends could work.

Once her tray was to capacity and completely paid for, she headed for the table. Stiles hadn't gotten back yet, but she did recognize Scott. He was aimlessly playing with an apple while staring at a girl a few tables away, Royce made note of the striking, dark haired girl that he was so mesmerized by and approached him.

She set her tray down and slid into one of the seats opposite him. He barely shifted his gaze to acknowledge her at first until he realized that she wasn't Stiles. _Then_ he stared.

"Hello again," Royce greeted him politely. She went about organizing her food as Scott looked around for someone else that she might be addressing.

"Um, hi?"

She sent him a wide grin to put him at ease. "Royce. From yesterday. Stiles asked me to eat lunch with you guys."

It all seemed to come back to him. "Right, yea. I remember you." He paused. "Stiles asked you to sit with us?"

Royce winced for his benefit. "He did. Is that okay with you? I didn't mean to intrude."

"No, it's fine. He's just never done that before—asked someone to eat with us before I mean."

She smiled. "I'm honored."

"You should be." Now that his question had been answered, Scott couldn't stop his gaze from sliding back to the girl every once and awhile.

Royce decided to breach the subject. "She's very pretty."

Scott's gaze snapped to Royce. "What?"

"The girl." Royce waved her forked behind her head in the girl's general direction. "What's her name?"

"Allison," he answered and for once his eyes didn't stray back to her. "How did you know?"

"I'm a girl. We pick up on things. And you're not subtle." She gestured to his uneaten food. "You could try eating—it makes the staring less conspicuous."

Scott actually laughed a little before taking a big bite of the apple. And at that moment, Stiles joined them. He sat down beside her.

"So what did I miss?" He asked, looking between the two like it truly mattered to him if they got along.

"Scott's telling me all about what's up with him and Allison," she responded with a goofy grin at a surprised Scott.

"Oh, so no different than every other day," Stiles replied.

"Uh oh. Someone sounds bitter—did she steal your boyfriend?" Royce teased and quirked her head toward Stiles. Scott took his eyes off Allison to watch the two of them. Was Stiles actually being flirted with?

Stiles scoffed at her through a smile. "He wishes he was my type."

"I don't actually," Scott offered.

Royce focused back on the task at hand. "Then tell us about your type. What the deal with Allison?"

Stiles sat back in his chair and started shoving food into his mouth. He shot his eyes back and forth between Scott and Royce, trying to figure out what was going on with her.

"She's my ex-girlfriend."

Royce nodded. "Ohhh," she drew out the word like she knew how awkward everything had just gotten. "She dumped you. Rough."

"I didn't say she dumped me."

"No, the lovesick puppy dog stare said it for you."

"You don't pull punches, do you?" Scott didn't seem offended. It actually seemed to interest him.

"No. Sorry. Am I hitting a sore subject?"

"Not really. We're getting back together."

"Does _she_ know that?" Royce asked. She looked over at Allison who seemed to be pointedly avoiding looking in their direction.

"She does. I told her that we'd get back together the night she broke up with me," he informed her. He seemed almost sheepish about it.

"Bold." Royce nodded as though she was impressed. "That's a bold move there. I like your style."

Royce's approval made Scott smile. A wide grin that spread across his slightly crooked jaw. That is, until he saw something behind Stiles that made his jaw clench. Stiles sat up in his chair.

"What?"

"Jackson just walked in." Scott stated. Stiles whipped his head around to see. "With Erica," Scott finished.

"Like together?" Stiles questioned as he kept trying to get a good look at them.

Scott smacked Stiles's arm. "Stop moving like that! I don't know."

"What about Lydia?"

"Stiles, I don't know. They just walked in the door. That's it." Scott sighed. "I'll be right back."

Royce followed Scott's trail to an extremely chiseled guy with cheekbones that most girls would kill for. He was whispering to a blonde girl that Royce recognized as one of the runaways from the woods. Scott barely said anything to them before he led them outside beyond the wall of windows so that they could speak freely. Royce sighed. She couldn't listen in.

"What's the big deal about this Jackson?"

Stiles snapped out of his absorption with Jackson to look at her. "Right. You're new. He uh…he was really sick. He collapsed on the lacrosse field a couple of weeks ago. Almost died. This is the first time he's been back to school since then."

"He looks _really_ good for someone dealing with all that. Wow," she said, now turning to watch him converse intently with Scott.

"Don't get too sucked in. He's kind of an ass." Stiles mumbled. He focused back on his food.

"Did you just insult the sick kid?" Royce asked him skeptically.

"He got better," was Stiles's only defense.

There was a long silence between them in the next moment. Something they were not accustomed to from their interaction yesterday. It was awkward. But Royce didn't want to risk getting too caught up again.

Stiles didn't like the silence. He had to stop it. "Are you okay?" He asked. Royce shrugged. "You seem different today."

Royce nodded. "Yea, I'm sorry. I'm fine. It's just been a weird day." She looked up in time to see an angry Scott gesturing wildly between Jackson and the blonde.

"So you and Scott have been friends for awhile, right? What's his story?" She prodded.

"Why are you so interest in Scott?" Stiles asked with what sounded like frustration.

Royce balked. "I'm just trying to get to know people. He's your friend. And he seems to have a lot on his mind—like his life is complicated. I'm just curious about him."

"That's all this is?" Royce could detect the jealousy in Stiles's voice and it gave her a little thrill.

"Why?"

"It just sounds like more."

Royce opened her mouth to deny his observation when his eyes left her to follow the petite redhead who was suddenly stalking across the room to speak with Allison in emphatic whispers. She saw the way that Stiles looked at this girl—he was clearly crushing on her something awful.

Royce decided it might be fun to see him sweat. "It doesn't matter if it's more. He seems pretty hung up on his ex for now."

That got his attention. "For now?" he asked.

She shrugged. "You never know."

"I do actually. They may be off right now and they might make me a little sick with all their lovey dovey behavior, but I'm on Scott's side. Those two are destined for each other."

"Destined, huh?"

"Yea. They're just…Allison's been going through a rough patch since her mom died. She needed a break I guess, after that. She just needs some time to work through some stuff."

"Thank you for the analysis, Dr. Phil."

He played along. "You're welcome."

"Now tell me: how long have you been obsess with her friend, Black Widow over there?" She nodded at the redhead.

"Black Widow?" he asked.

"Yes. Redheaded super vixen—also a type of spider who eats their male counterpart alive."

"You mean Lydia?"

"If that's what you call her."

Stiles looked over at Lydia. He seemed to soften as he watched her—looking at her in a way that made Royce uncomfortable. "I wouldn't say I'm obsessed. Besides it doesn't matter. She's dating Iron Man." He nodded at Jackson.

Royce once again swung her gaze to Jackson because let's face it he wasn't hard to look at. "And yet, you think you could be her Hawkeye." She took a bite of a soggy french fry. "Or at least you want to be."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. "You know a freakish amount about comics."

"I know a freakish amount about a lot of things."

Stiles gave a half laugh. "Apparently. Except that Hawkeye doesn't end up with Black Widow."

Royce nodded. "I know." She crinkled her nose as she thought it over. "She doesn't really have a set opposite, but I always thought that he was her best match."

Stiles agreed.

"But just because he was best for her doesn't mean she's best for him" Royce continued with her theories without really thinking about what she was saying. "You never know, there might be a Mockingbird out there somewhere."

Royce chose to avoid any and all eye contact with Stiles in that moment. She watched Scott and Jackson while Stiles studied her in a new light. "Maybe. Not sure it really matters. Unfortunately lately I've been feeling more of a Robin vibe than Hawkeye." Stiles admitted.

"Eh, Birds of a Feather," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Huh?" He asked, looking back at Lydia.

"Robin is also a bird related superhero…" Royce explained, cringing a little at her failed joke. "Nevermind. You changed comic book universes, which just made this conversation infinitely more complicated." She pushed up from her chair and started gathering her stuff. Stiles was lost in thought about Lydia. Royce leaned forward and Stiles looked up, surprised to see her getting ready to go. "Don't get so mad about being Robin." She advised him. "I've always like him—he's cute." She pushed in her chair and started to walk away.

"You're delusional."

She shot him a smile over her shoulder. "Probably." She disposed of her lunch and sent Stiles a wave before shouting back at him, "See ya later, Boy Wonder!" right before the end of lunch bell rung.

* * *

Royce didn't speak to Stiles again until school let out that day. She saw him rifling through his locker and wondered if she should go talk to him again. She was worried she might have weirded him out earlier with their conversation. But she also knew that the way to Scott and the Alpha was through Stiles. "Screw it," she mumbled to herself and approached him.

"So I forgot to ask, who's your Batman?" It was the only thing that popped into her head.

Stiles closed his locker and gave her a confused look. "What?" He started walking towards the front doors of the school and motioned for her to follow as he walked backward to keep her gaze.

She trailed after him. "If you're Robin, there's got to be a Batman. I mean if not, you wouldn't be Robin you'd be…Nightwing, I guess. " She paused after her mini-speech to consider that. "Which would be awesome." She stated it with a firm nod.

"Is your brain just like a dictionary of comic book characters?" He asked, wondering where all of this was coming from.

She stopped walking. "Yes." She deadpanned. Stiles quirked his head and raised a skeptical eyebrow. She shrugged. "Okay, no." She said. She skipped ahead of him. "But that would be cool. Though I'd say it would be more of an encyclopedia. I just—I had kind of a…rough childhood. Comics were or _are_, I guess, a great escape."

"I know what you mean. " He rotated between looking down at his feet and up ahead of him as they walked out. She noticed his fingers lightly drumming against the strap of his backpack that he held against his shoulder. She realized that he did that a lot—little ticks and constant movement like he was restless. She had noticed him drumming his fingers while talking to Scott. She had noticed him tapping his foot in every single class. But she hadn't noticed any such movement yesterday afternoon or really had any time he was focused on her during their conversations. Not until now. "I got really into them when my mom was sick."

She could tell by the soft way that Stiles said it that his mom never got better, She felt for him. She didn't look at him, but she moved closer, bumping him lightly and very intentionally. "Sometimes reality sucks way too much to stay wrapped up in it," she responded. They continued walking side by side, arms touching until they reached the front curb of the school.

She leaned toward him and looked over. "But you didn't answer my question," she said, her face close enough that she could practically rest her chin on his shoulder.

"It was strategic avoidance."

Royce held up her hands in mock surrender. "Okay, fine. Maybe I can drag it out of you later."

"You could try," he teased.

"Will you and Batman be out saving the town this weekend?"

Stiles laughed a little too loudly at her lame joke. "Nope! No, I'm not that exciting. I think there's just some kind of party on Friday. I'll probably go with Scott."

"You guys are a cute couple."

"We're good wingmen," he clarified. "What about you? Anything fun planned?"

"Not really. I'm still new here, ya know?" She hinted in a way that she thought wasn't exactly subtle. "I'll probably just wander around, try to familiarize myself with this place." Stiles nodded. "Maybe meet some new people." She went on.

Stiles suddenly wacked her arm lightly. "Hey! You know what? You should come to the party with me and Scott. We can introduce you to some people and it will give you and I a chance to hang out."

"Wow, yea. That sounds like fun."

"Cool. I should uh,…well, I'm gonna need to let you know the details and stuff." Royce nodded for him to continue. "So I'll need—I mean, can I get…" He gestured wildly with his hand, trying to get the words out.

Royce laughed. "So I should get your number." She couldn't keep the smile from her face.

He laughed and then nodded his head up and down vigorously. "It's like you can read my mind."

She pulled out her phone and clicked to add a new contact. She handed it to him and he plugged in the digits. He handed it back to her and he immediately dialed it. She heard the soft buzz of it ringing. He patted at his pockets until he found it and pulled it out.

"And there you go, now you have mine."

He stared down at where her number displayed on his screen. She would almost swear that he was looking at it like it was the Stanley Cup and he just won it.

The look didn't last long though. When he took his eyes off the phone and back up to the school parking lot, he groaned loudly.

Royce followed his stare and noticed a tall and fairly gorgeous guy giving off a bad boy vibe. He made a swift motion to summon Stiles over and served him with the scowl of all scowls.

Stiles whipped his head around as if calculating if he could beat a retreat.

Royce looked back to the mystery man. "Who's tall, dark, and brooding over there?"

His stare was sudden and alarmed.

"His name is Derek," he said begrudgingly.

He watched the interested smile slink across her face as her eyes roved over Derek. Stiles had the sudden and irrational urge to punch Derek.

"Now, _he_ would make a great Batman." She said mainly to mess with Stiles, but also because it was true.

She chanced a look at Stiles to see his mouth open in protest. Her hit landed squarely.

"I should get going—homework and all that."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Stiles replied.

She walked across the parking lot with a tiny wave at Stiles. He didn't really watch her go—instead he noticed Derek tracking her movements with clear interest as she headed home.

Stiles did a full-bodied shudder and reluctantly went over to Derek. "What do you want from me?" He whined. "You shouldn't even be here. Allison sees you and I'm not sure she'd even hesitate to put an arrow in your head—even in daylight, in public."

Derek ignored his rant. "I need to talk to Scott. There's something important we think he should know."

"We?"

"Peter and I."

"He's working today and tomorrow. I will let him know that you would like him to stop by your lair."

Derek clenched his jaw. He didn't like what Stiles was telling him, but it had to do. There was something else on his mind though. "So who was that girl? And why was a girl who looks like _that_ with you?"

Stiles narrowed his eyes and a realization hit him that made him want to gag. He was seeing something he never thought he'd see in the big, bad alpha wolf Derek Hale—pure and immediate attraction. And Stiles hated it.


	4. Chapter 3

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hey guys! So there's less than 30 days until season three premieres! I will probably be posting more in the next few weeks than typical because I want to get the story out there before the premiere so I don't get too sucked in to what actually goes on in the show! I want to say a huge THANK YOU to my reviewers. You guys are awesome and make me excited to write. There were a few questions in the reviews that I don't want to answer outright, but that you will hopefully get answered if you keep reading. Thanks and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Three

"You truly believe that this, Derek, is the Alpha?" James asked Royce at her debriefing. This time it wasn't with the whole pack. It was just Royce, James, and Cara.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?" Royce countered. Cara nudged her to get her to behave. Royce cleared her throat. "I mean, yes. I didn't get close to him, but I got a sense. He holds himself like he knows that he's stronger—more powerful than everyone around him. Probably overconfident, but the way he looked and the way McCall's friend reacted to him I'd place my bets on him."

James took a long moment to mull over her words. He finally nodded. "Is there anything else?"

Royce opened her mouth to say no, but hesitated. Cara picked up on it. "What is it?"

"It's just—there's one thing. I could…feel him—his eyes I mean. He was watching me."

"You think he suspects you? As a part of our pack?" Cara asked with concern.

"That's a possibility, but it felt different. Like maybe he's attracted to me. I couldn't tell exactly though."

"Keep your guard up," James warned as if he couldn't even entertain the idea that Derek thought of her as anything but a threat.

"Is it so hard to believe he might be attracted to me?" She asked.

He didn't exactly answer her question. "If he is, you will need to be prepared to exploit it," he ordered gruffly.

"Way ahead of you," she responded and dismissed herself from the debriefing. She wanted to get away from James's intense scrutiny and Cara's imploring eyes. And she especially wanted to get away from all of the guilt brought on by the day of spying on people that she was really trying not to like. She couldn't exactly get the feeling to go away, but as she curled up in her bed she did her best to shut it out with one of her favorite old comics. Of course it was one that just happened to feature Hawkeye and Mockingbird prominently.

* * *

Royce laid low for the rest of the week. She continued to gather pieces of information about the town and its citizens. She didn't learn anything crucial, but gathered a better picture of the town. She ate lunch with Scott and Stiles every day. She was beginning to think that they kind of enjoyed her as an addition to their twosome.

By the time Friday rolled around, Royce was itching for a break from the routine. She was used to constant movement and chaos with her pack and for a town that had been rife with supernatural drama, as of late Beacon Hills had been surprisingly quiet.

Royce hoped that the party tonight would be a good break from the routine while still giving her a glimpse into the world of teenage normalcy.

It was about 9 o'clock at night when Royce made it to the front of the school. She told Stiles that was a good place to meet up—obviously she couldn't invite him to meet at the place her pack was squatting. And she didn't know the town well enough to figure out where he lived and if it was in normal walking distance. The school was safe.

Stiles hadn't gotten there yet. At first she stood silently by the door, slinking into the shadows. Her instincts kicked in for a predator's vantage point where she wasn't vulnerable to attack. She was completely still.

It was so natural to her that she realized suddenly that her natural wasn't normal. For the sake of her cover, she couldn't do this. She had to let herself be exposed. So she moved out into the glow of a nearby streetlight and she slowly began to pace. She stayed alert to her surroundings while acting the part of the self-conscious girl. She played with her phone and ran her hand along the tight braid that wound around her head, making sure everything was in place.

She dialed the act up a notch when she heard Stiles's footsteps from a block away. She could hear him coming at a pace between a speed walk and a light jog. She could smell his soap before she even rounded the corner. He slowed his pace when she came into his view and she pretended like she didn't know he was there until he called her name.

She whirled around as though he startled her and smiled like she was relieved when she saw it was him. "Hey!"

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm late."

"Don't sweat it!" She shrugged at him.

"I just don't like the thought of you out here waiting by yourself."

"You feel better now that you're here to protect me?" Her voice leaked with sarcasm.

"That's not what I meant. It's just any girl who looks like…" He seemed at a loss as he really took in her appearance for the first time. He seemed be very approving of her dark jeans and tight top. "…_that_ needs to be careful out here."

She looked down at her outfit. "Do I look slutty or something?" She asked. She didn't think it was that bad.

"No! No!" He rushed to get the words out. "You look," he let out a deep breath to calm himself. "You look amazing."

She beamed. "Thanks. Right back at ya." She looked down at her feet to break the eye contact that had gone on just a little too long. "So where's Scott?" She asked mainly to get out of the conversation, but also because she was curious.

"Oh, his house is on the way actually so I figured we could walk to him."

"Got it."

"Good, now let's get out of here. I hate this place at night." He nodded at the school.

"Really? Most people hate it during the day." She said as she followed Stiles down a street she hadn't been on before. "I think schools have an awesome kind of creepy vibe at night."

"I wouldn't call it awesome."

"Why not?"

"There are just some memories in there that I would rather forget."

"Like what?" She prodded.

He stopped and turned to face her. "I'd rather not get into it tonight." He looked like he considered his next words carefully. "Hopefully I'll be able to tell you some other time."

She nodded, not wanting to press the issue any further and annoy him. She changed the subject. "We got a gorgeous night."

"Yea, I guess," he said dismissively.

"Oh come on, Stiles! It's warm, the grasshoppers are chirping, and there's not a cloud in the sky to cover the stars. I mean, just look at that moon! Nice and full."

"Not full!" He said quickly.

"Huh?"

"It's not actually full until tomorrow."

Royce smiled. "You big on tracking the lunar cycle?" She asked with a teasing lilt.

"Something like that," he answered.

"Nerd," she taunted, which made him smile. "Anyway, I just meant that it's nice here. Like a night pulled from one of those sappy romantic movies."

"Which one?"

"Oh, I don't know! I don't watch those."

"Then why would you bring it up?"

"I'm making conversation! Nevermind. We can just have a quiet moonlit stroll."

She shook her head and looked around aimlessly as they walked.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to shut you down. You're right. I usually don't think of these woods as anything but creepy or terrifying, but under the right circumstances they could be romantic."

"Like what circumstances?" She asked.

He wouldn't look at her, just watching his feet as they stepped out from the woods to a street that Royce didn't recognize. She followed him through the neighborhood and into a backyard of a modest, but cute house.

"I'm sure you can imagine your own," he finally answered.

"I still want to hear yours." That got him to look back at her. She raised her eyebrows at him in a challenge.

He took a breath like he was about to respond and paused. Still looking at her, he finally spoke but it wasn't to answer her. "Scott," he called out, just above a normal speaking decibel.

Royce laughed. She looked around for any sign of Scott and settled on the front door of the house. She was legitimately surprised when he poked his head out from the second floor window and started crawling out. It wasn't a very high window, but she could tell that he had an extreme level of agility and athleticism as he lowered himself to hang off a ledge and drop down in a smooth landing.

Scott greeted them with a squinty grin as he brushed himself off. "Hey guys."

The three of them started on their way through the woods again, snapping twigs and dodging branches as they went.

"Why couldn't we take the jeep again?" Scott asked as they trudged along.

"It's in the middle of the woods and I plan to drink—if my dad finds me driving with any alcohol in me he will arrest the whole town."

"Your dad?" Royce asked.

"He's the sheriff." Scott answered for Stiles. "What did you tell him you were doing?"

"I didn't tell him anything. He's working."

"Let's just hope he's nowhere near here tonight." Scott said as they started to hear the low music and verbal rumblings of a party.

When they closer, Royce saw the different groups of kids from school, some she recognized and some she didn't, talking and dancing and drinking. They all got a drink and Scott and Stiles were great about introducing her around to people.

Somehow after about an hour, Royce ended up at the apex of a conversation with an interesting guy named Danny when she noticed that Scott and Stiles weren't next to her anymore. They were off to the side talking quietly to one another. Royce finished her conversation and excused herself to refill her drink.

As she came up to the keg, she noticed the redhead—the one that she had nicknamed Black Widow—the one who's real name escaped her—and Scott's ex, Allison, were standing right beside it. She smiled at them. The redhead leered over her as she leaned down to tap the keg.

"Where did you get those shoes?" Black Widow asked suddenly in a tone that could be strewn as either approval or disgust.

Royce looked down at her well-worn, yet stylish leather boots. "At a vintage store in San Francisco." She responded.

Black Widow narrowed her eyes, but nodded. She didn't state her opinion of the boots. Royce waited for a minute to see if she would say anything else.

Allison looked at her friend in annoyance. She elbowed Black Widow before speaking up. "I love them. They're really cute," she offered with a well-dimpled smile. Royce could just imagine her and Scott's dimpled grins together as an achingly cute couple.

"Thanks. Same with your jacket. It's great." Royce gestured to the dark, stylish blazer. "I don't think I could pull that look off, but it's great on you."

"I'm sure you could."

The redhead rolled her eyes and shoved her drink at Allison. "Not to break up your lovefest, but I have something more interesting to do," she said before pushing past them and stalking over to the overly pretty boy from the cafeteria. The Iron Man that Stiles had pinpointed as Black Widow's boyfriend. She thought she remember his name was Jackson. He had just arrived at the party.

"I'm sorry about Lydia. She can be harsh, but she's also a really good friend."

"Don't worry about it."

"I'm Allison."

Royce introduced herself and watched briefly as Lydia seemed to speak a few angry words at Jackson before yanking him towards her for a kiss.

"So question for you: how serious is that relationship?"

"Not too sure. They just got back together." Allison wrinkled her nose.

"You don't like him?" Royce asked, picking up on her cue.

"No, he just…changed recently." She had no better answer than that. "Why are you so interested? You have a thing for Jackson?"

"No, I'm just curious as the new kid." Royce shrugged.

Allison nodded. "I know what that's like."

"Also, I'm pretty sure a friend of mine has a huge thing for her. I had to ask for his sake." Royce looked over to see Stiles watching Lydia and Jackson make-out. He looked completely defeated.

"What friend?" Allison asked, but she had her suspicions.

"You know Stiles?"

Allison let out a heavy breath into a smile. "Yes."

"He's been really great to me this week. Showing the new girl the ropes and all."

"Yea, that sounds like him." Allison closed her eyes and breathed as she mentally prepped herself to ask the question. "I'm guessing you know Scott then?"

Royce winced for her sake. "I do."

"And you know we dated?"

"I do," she repeated.

"How is he?" She asked sincerely.

Royce didn't react right away. She wasn't really sure what to say. "I can't say too much—I didn't know him before obviously, but he seems okay." She nodded, but Royce could see that she was almost disappointed. There were clearly still feelings there. "I mean he's clearly still hung up on you, but I think he's getting by with the idea that you guys will get back together."

Allison's lips quirked into a little smile before she quickly flattened out her mouth again. "You got all that in a week?"

"I'm very intuitive."

"Ah," she nodded.

"And also he pretty much told me that straight up."

Allison broke out in what seemed to be a rare laugh. "Yea, that sounds like him."

Royce noticed her affection for him. "Can I ask what really happened?"

Allison seemed sort of taken aback that she had the guts to ask, but Royce wasn't worried about hitting on the touchy subject. "I needed a break—I've been going through a lot lately. I lost my mom and there are some issues between my family and some…_people_ that Scott sort of works with." Allison took a deep breath and there was the slightest glimmer of tears in her eyes before she pulled herself together. "It just got complicated."

Royce nodded and took a sip of her drink. "I know what it's like—uh, to lose a parent." She took another long sip so she could gather he thoughts. "Parent_s_ actually and to put it in a way that doesn't even begin to touch on how you actually feel or is remotely eloquent—it totally sucks." Royce shrugged.

Allison quirked her head to the side, trying to evaluate her. She seemed to soften as they exchanged sad smiles. Hearing Royce open up made Allison feel a little better. Not in a misery loves company kind of way, just that it was nice to know someone else could understand how she felt—she wasn't alone in that. There was someone in this town who might not judge her if she went a little off the walls.

"Thanks for that. You're right." Allison tapped her cup against Royce's in a solemn cheers. "You know, it's weirdly hard not to tell things to you."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." She pointed at her eyes and swirled her finger around. "I think it's my eyes—they mesmerize you into not realizing that you're saying what you're saying."

Allison laughed again. "I'll take note of that for the future."

Royce smiled. She sent a fleeting glance as Stiles to see him drowning his sorrows as he watched Lydia and Jackson.

"So what's going on between you and Stiles?" It was Allison's turn for some answers.

Royce sighed and went for the typical teenage girl answer that she was loathe to admit was pretty true. "Unfortunately nothing. Every time Lydia walks by I seem to disappear."

"Lydia's my best friend, but she treats him like crap. He's a smart guy though—he just needs to realize that he actually has options now other than reliving the fantasy in his head."

"I appreciate the encouragement."

"Unfortunately for you, recently he's had the best chance he's ever had to get close to her." Allison moved her eyes away from Royce to watch Scott and Stiles. Her expression was wistful. "Just be careful around them, okay? They're good guys, but there are things that you don't know about them so just be aware."

"Like what things?" Royce asked. She knew she might be pushing it, but she was hoping Allison might let something slip.

"Things that they need to be the ones to tell you about," she replied without missing a beat.

Allison's phone started buzzing. "It's my dad," she said, reading the screen. She seemed torn about if she should answer.

"Go for it," Royce encouraged her. "I should check on Stiles."

Allison nodded and moved to take the call somewhere quieter.

"If you ever need a girl to commiserate with, let me know," Royce called after her as almost an afterthought.

Allison turned back to give her one last smile. "I will," she said. And Royce actually believed it.

Allison answered her phone and Royce went to find Stiles. She winced as she approached him. She saw him take Scott's drink and start to chug. She followed his gaze to see Lydia and Jackson touching foreheads and kissing. It was sweet in a gross way.

"Slow down, slugger. It's not a contest," she joked. She tugged the cup away from his lips before he could finish the beer.

Stiles seemed almost grateful that she cared enough to take away the cup. He closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"I could use a break," he told her.

Royce looked around at the groups of kids in various states of debauchery. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself. "You want to go for a walk?"

Royce helped hoist Stiles from the rock he was leaning against. She followed him as he weaved through the trees. The farther they got from the party the better they felt.

When they got to the point where the voices and music score of the party were just mumbles and low beats, Stiles stopped suddenly. Royce had to almost dance around him to avoid collision. She spun around until she landed with her back against a large tree.

Stiles swung towards her. "What does she see in that tool?"

Royce watched the range of frustration and incredulity seep into his features. She was beginning to really love looking at his face. Stiles thrust his hands forward in the universal signal for 'well!?'.

"Oh, you're seriously asking me?" She wasn't sure what to tell him. "That wasn't rhetorical? Because I've never actually met him. But I mean just looking at him…" she tried to trail off, but it was clear that Stiles wanted more. "Well, I don't hate looking at him."

Stiles made a kind of spazzy breathing sound as he let out the words, "Ohhh! Shallow!" elongating the 'oh' to become several syllables.

"And you aren't? With Lydia?" she shot back.

"It's different!" he argued. He moved closer to her, but he barely seemed to notice he did so.

"It's really not." Royce hated the defeated look on his face as if he was disappointed. Or maybe as if he realized that she might have had a point. "I don't hate looking at you either," she added quietly.

He raised his eyebrows, making it easier for her to see the flash of joy in his eyes. "Really?"

She nodded. "Especially if you grow out your hair a little bit," she tugged lightly at his shorn hair.

"Oh yea?" he asked, reaching to feel the strands at the back on his neck.

"Yea, girls like something they can run their hands through."

"Ya know, it goes double for me." Stiles murmured softly.

"I should grow out my hair?"

"I don't hate look at you either. In fact, I may really like it."

This was not the first time Royce had picked up on the fact that Stiles's eyes and limbs always seemed far too restless to stay in one place in a uniquely Stiles kind of way—it wasn't like the nervous ticks she had noticed before, but more like his thoughts were always ready to jump to the next level and his body had to move to keep up. And in that instance, as his eyes jumped around, assessing the whole situation, she noticed that they fell on her lips more often than not.

Royce let her hand trail from his hair down the back of his head and around to play with the collar of his shirt. That's when it seemed to click for Stiles and he stilled, completely calm with a steady stare into her eyes. He leaned closer to her, causing a hitch in her breathing. Her heart started beating uncomfortable hard.

Stiles moved to close the final gap between them, but right before their lips could touch Royce turned her head, burying her face in his neck. She could feel his pulse pounding in his neck. She kissed the spot gently and felt it jump.

Stiles placed his hands on either side of her body against the tree behind her and let her keep her head put. "What just happened? What's wrong? Is my breath off? Am I grossing you out or something or—." Stiles rattled off question after question at rapid fire pace before Royce could interrupt.

"Stop! No, it's none of that! I wish I could kiss you. So badly, but I can't."

"You absolutely can!" Stiles interjected.

"Not when I know that even though you're with me, you wish that I was Lydia. That maybe you would even be picturing her." She shuddered at the thought.

Stiles started to deny it all, but very quickly got distracted by Royce who began trailing her lips up the side of his neck and his cheek in light kisses. She stopped when she reached his sideburns and pressed her forehead to his. Royce could feel the shiver that ran through Stiles at her touch.

"When we kiss, I don't want there to be thoughts of anyone else. Just you and me," she told him sincerely.

"When?" Stiles asked with the amount of hope in his voice that almost made her eat her words.

"Or if, I guess." Royce tried to read his eyes—to know what was going through his head. She wanted him to say that perfect thing that would allow her to let down her guard.

"I like 'when'." He finally said. She started to smile when she noticed something moving behind him. He didn't notice anything, but he saw the shift in her attention.

It took a moment, but Royce could see the picture forming as the figure approached. Stiles studied Royce as she recognized the tall blonde clad in leather. Stiles finally turned to see what Royce was so focused on. He stumbled at the sight of the beta runaway and fell on his ass.

"Stiles, I've been looking for you," the blonde purred as she stalked towards them slowly. "I was hoping we could hang out."

Royce could tell by the attempt at sultry eyes and a husky tone that she had a thing for Stiles. Or at least that she wanted him to think that. She had a certain swagger about her like she wasn't going to stop until she got what she wanted.

Stiles didn't like the fact that the three of them were out in the woods alone. "Erica, maybe we should all head back to the party and hang out together." He suggested.

"I like it right here." Erica told him, but her eyes were locked on Royce. She had what she thought was easy prey in her sights. Royce narrowed her eyes and returned the stare.

Stiles had seen that look on Erica's face before and it usually preceded violence. "Oh, this can't be good," he said before all hell started to break loose.


	5. Chapter 4

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

Author's Note: Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this one! So excited for June 3rd! I will probably be posting a few chapters this week because I'm on vacation and want to get in as much as possible before the premiere. Please read and review because it makes me happy! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Four

Erica walked past where Stiles was still on the ground until she was standing face to face with Royce, within arms reach. Stiles looked on, a little shell-shocked and completely unsure of what to do.

The look on Erica's face was an odd mixture of barely controlled aggression and weirdly timed seduction, like her sexuality was a newly acquired weapon in her arsenal that she didn't quite know how to aim yet.

It was obvious that Erica was pissed at Stiles and that she was channeling her anger into jealousy directed towards Royce. Erica took another step forward in an effort to intimidate. Suffice it to say, she wasn't successful.

Stiles struggled to his feet and squeezed himself between the two girls. He knew he couldn't outdo Erica physically, but he was hoping he could convince her to back off.

"I'm surprised at you, Stiles." Erica began, finally looking at him as he spoke. "I always though you were too hung up on the Queen Bee to even give anyone else a chance. But I hoped that I was wrong because I thought you and I had a moment."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "You have physically assaulted me on several occasions. Whatever moment we may have had doesn't erase that."

Royce perked her ears up. She thought she heard something, but didn't want to lose focus on what was happening in front of her—couldn't give Erica the chance to get a leg up on her.

"Is that any different than the emotional abuse Lydia has thrown at you over the years?" she argued.

"Yes!" Stiles practically yelled.

"You can't tell me that you don't return even a fraction of the feelings that I have for you. I told you I had a crush on you." She softened her voice and ran her hand down his chest, getting bolder and bolder with her movements as her hand made its way to his waist. Royce could hear Stiles's erratic heartbeat. He caught Erica's wrist as it reached his hip. Erica smiled and ran her tongue across her lips. "So what are you doing out here with a girl you don't even know?" she asked and looked beyond his shoulder at Royce.

"I know her just fine, but thank you for your concern." He lifted her hand from his body and dropped it back down by her side.

Erica looked down at her rejected hand and laughed in disbelief. "I don't think I like how this is playing for me. So what are we going to do about it?" There was a playful lilt to her voice like this was all a game.

"We should all just go back to the party where there are lots of witnesses." Stiles tried the idea again.

"I don't think that's going to work for me, Stiles. No, we can work it out now. I just don't get this," she pointed between Royce and Stiles. "I mean, at least with Lydia I know that you have no shot." Stiles let out a half-hearted protest. "This bitch though—she needs to go."

Royce's lips twitched into a smile. Erica was clearly trying to get a rise out of her, but Royce wasn't taking the bait.

"Erica, don't." Stiles warned. "You have to control yourself."

"I don't know, Stiles, there's something about the night before the full moon that makes me a little crazy." His eyes widened and Erica punctuated her statement by putting a hand on his shoulder and tossing him out of the way.

Erica's canines dropped into place and her eyes shifted yellow. Royce didn't react, which made Erica hesitate. Finally she lunged at Royce, strong-arming the secret alpha against the tree. Royce could tell by the augmented strength that Erica had rejoined her pack—a baby omega wouldn't have as much power. Even with the added strength, Royce knew that she could overpower the baby werewolf easily.

Royce looked over to see Stiles slowly getting to his feet. She had hoped that he had gotten knocked out so that she could dispose of Erica without him seeing. She of course wanted him unscathed of any serious injury, but it would help if he had passed out momentarily.

Erica sneered and raised the hand that wasn't supposedly holding Royce at bay. Her nails started to grow into raggedly sharp tips.

Royce watched it happen and Erica watched her face. "You could use a manicure," Royce told her. Her lack of fear took Erica over the edge. Royce could hear Stiles get up and start towards Erica. She heard him call out for Scott and yell for Erica to stop.

Erica swung her arm at Royce and just before Royce made a move to stop her, Erica was suddenly ripped off of her.

"Oh, thank God!" Stiles sighed with relief. "Scott!" Stiles called when he realized that the figure who had tackled Erica wasn't letting up.

"Yes?" Scott answered. He appeared suddenly next to Stiles and watched the skirmish in surprise. Scott and Stiles looked on, confused and wondering who the other wolf was. They were far enough away and it was dark enough that they couldn't tell. Jackson maybe?

Royce cursed under her breath as she recognized the other werewolf. She knew that fighting style and recognized the scent of way too much cologne. Fucking Ryan!

She held her breath, hoping he would contain Erica and flee. Of course, he would never make things that easy. Ryan pinned Erica to the ground and reared his head back. He barred his teeth and went for her throat.

Royce hesitated a moment too long to stop him as her attempt to wave him off failed. Scott got there first. He hit Ryan hard enough to dislodge him from atop Erica. She didn't get up, knocked unconscious in the struggle. Royce could hear Erica's heart thudding—she'd survive.

Ryan recovered quickly from the hit and hurled Scott against a tree right by Stiles. Stiles moved to help Scott who was slow to get up.

Ryan hissed and moved towards where Scott and Stiles were huddled, eager to finish his assault.

"No!" Royce commanded, like he was a disobedient puppy. That got his attention.

Ryan looked back at her. She could see all the rage and jealousy flashing through his crimson eyes before he turned back to Stiles. And she knew that Ryan had seen everything.

Instinct took over and Royce flung herself at Ryan. Her momentum threw his off balance. He crashed to his side and she landed on top of his. She flipped him so that he was on his back. Her hand made a beeline for his throat and formed an immediate vice as her knee dug into his lower stomach. Ryan tried to lunge upward and switch positions, but she overpowered him and thrust him back against the ground with a loud thump. She transformed her nails so that they pinched tightly at his throat, breaking skin. Blood ran down his neck, but it wasn't enough. He was ruining everything. She punched him in frustration and heard the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking. The only thing that sucked was how quickly it was bound to heal.

Her eyes flashed red as she held him down while holding back from any further transformation. They may know she's a werewolf, but she had the hope that they wouldn't find out that she was an alpha.

Royce leaned down so that she was right at Ryan's left ear and growled. "You may have just destroyed everything!"

He slowly began to regain his self-control as she spoke. He was transforming back to his human self.

"I'm going to let you up and you are going to run home. Make a move towards them and your dead. Understood? Cara will hear of this."

Ryan tried to plead with her, but she wasn't having it. She used the hand around his throat to slam his head against the ground. "Understood?"

He attempted a nod as the grip on his throat prevented any more speaking.

"And if you ever follow me again I will rip your organs from your body one by one." She released her grip on him and tossed him into the woods, away from everyone else.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes until she knew they had returned to their normal shade of vibrant, violet blue.

Once she got herself settled, she braced herself and turned to Scott and Stiles. She saw the awe on their faces as they watched the silhouette of her nails retracting back to their original length.

She sent them an uneasy smile.

"You're a werewolf," Scott blurted out the obvious. Stiles just stared—that made her more nervous.

"That seems to be a theme of the night," she said, gesturing between Scott and Erica.

Stiles finally seemed to snap out of his stupor. He gestured wildly and whipped his head back and forth between the other three people. "Is everyone a werewolf, but me?" he asked, seemingly to the universe.


	6. Chapter 5

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hey guys! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter! You're going to get a little more backstory on our leading lady this time around! Read, enjoy, and review if you can. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Five

Royce tried to stand in the least threatening stance possible as she faced a shocked Scott and Stiles. Scott slowly crouched down in a stance that could be either primed for attack or defense.

"How did this happen? Did Derek turn you?" Stiles immediately pressed her for information. He stepped toward her, but Scott grabbed his arm—she assumed to keep Stiles at a safe distance.

"Derek? That guy from the school parking lot? He's a werewolf too? Your alpha?" She feigned innocence.

"I don't have an alpha," Scott answered.

"That makes two of us," she replied honestly.

"Who are you?" Scott half-yelled at her in a sudden burst of anger.

Royce held her hands up in a universal sign of surrender. "I'm the same person I've been all week. Nothing's different about me. I just had a secret that no one knew about."

"It's a pretty damn big secret!"

"Hey Pot! My name's Kettle," she shot back.

"Huh?"

"She's calling you a hypocrite," Stiles explained to him.

Erica stirred from her spot on the ground. Royce sighed. "Someone want to check on her?" Stiles moved towards Erica to see if she was okay.

"Why are you here?"

"It's Friday night—I'm a teenage girl and it's a party. Do you really need an answer to that?"

"What? No! I mean in this town."

"I moved here to live with my aunt. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on in this town and get to know people. I didn't know that it was the werewolf capital of the world."

She heard Stiles let out a little laugh and it gave her a little more hope that she could talk her way out of this. "Now why are you acting like I'm the only one who should be under suspicion here? For that matter, why am I even under suspicion? I'm honestly happy to see someone else who understands what I have to deal with."

"Because everything that _can_ go wrong in this town _does _and there are enough dangerous, unpredictable people here already." Scott started to rise slowly to show that he was letting down his guard. "And one of those people seems to be your friend—who was that other werewolf?"

"Not my friend!" She said with enough disgust to convince them both. "He's another omega—he has a thing for me. I didn't know he followed me from San Francisco."

"What did you say to him?" Stiles asked as he helped hoist Erica to her feet. "When you had him pinned."

Royce cleared her throat. "I told him that I'd kill him if he tried to hurt anyone else and that he needed to leave." Royce looked down as though she were ashamed of herself. "He shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"That's exactly what you need to do with her," Erica advised Scott once she got her bearings. "She is only going to bring you problems. Get rid of her!" she pleaded. Stiles dropped his hands from her so fast that you would have thought her skin had burned him.

"We're not killing her!" Stiles protested loudly.

"You'll regret it if you don't," she argued.

Royce was ready to defend herself if she had to, but it was nice to hear the boys do it for her.

"We're not hurting _anyone_," Scott told Erica.

The decision was final, but it wasn't what Erica wanted to hear. She moved towards Royce to strike her down. Royce caught her wrist as the hand came at her. She twisted Erica's arm around to the point of incapacitating her without snapping any bones or limbs.

"You can try, sweetheart, but it would barely take effort for me to drop you," Royce told her very simply. She twisted Erica's arm another inch and ignored the whiney squeals of pain coming from her. "If you start thinking with your head instead of your emotions, I could teach you a few things." Royce released her grip. Erica whimpered and rubbed her offended wrist.

"You need to go," Scott told Erica and she scurried away.

Scott and Stiles stood on either side of Royce both sporting wary and skeptical looks. She could handle that kind of look from Scott, but she didn't like it on Stiles. She didn't want him to be afraid of her.

"Scott, can I get a minute to talk to Stiles alone?"

Scott didn't move, but he shifted his gaze between the two of them as if considering all possible outcomes for the situation.

Royce went another route to convince him. "This is all a little too much for me to get a handle on right now, but I promise you that I will answer anything you want to ask me tomorrow. As long as I get some of the details about you too. But right now, I'd just like a minute to explain myself to him." Her voice shook a little as she spoke and the boys could sense her desperation.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Scott looked at her as if she might snap at any second.

"Do you really think I'm going to hurt him?"

"It's the night before the full moon."

Royce opened her mouth to protest, but Stiles responded first. "I'll be fine," he told Scott.

Scott nodded and disappeared into the wood. She had a feeling that he didn't wander too far. Royce sat down on a nearby rock and Stiles hesitated, but finally sat down beside her. They sat there for a moment while she searched for the right words.

"Okay, so I know that I said I wanted to talk to you, but I honestly don't even know what to say."

Stiles laughed. "Really? I'm trying to hold the hundreds of questions zinging around in my head at bay."

She laughed with him. "You're doing an amazing job. I'm very proud."

He turned his body so he could focus on her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She reached for him tentatively and when he didn't pull away she placed her hand on top of his. "I like you. A lot. But I've known you for about a week. It seemed a little early to reveal my darkest secret to you."

Stiles looked almost surprised, as he seemed to realize something. "Wow, yea. I forgot you haven't been here that long—it just seems like you have. But you don't know about all of the madness that happens around here. With Scott and everything."

"You'll have to tell me sometime."

Stiles nodded.

Royce swallowed back the lump forming in her throat. "Even though I wasn't going to tell you about me, I'm really glad that you know."

"Me too," he replied quietly.

Royce leaned towards him and pressed a lingering kiss against his cheek. She let her head fall to his shoulder and felt the shudder rip through his spine. She hoped that it was out of pleasure and not fear.

Eventually they rose from their rock and trudged back through the woods past the party to the school where they parted ways with a hug.

* * *

Stiles texted her the next day to tell her to meet him and Scott at a vet's office that Scott apparently worked in. She entered, the bell above the door ringing loudly as she swung it closed. She was ready to get this over with, her backstory in place.

Scott and Stiles emerged from the backroom when they heard her.

"Am I here for my check-up?" she joked and they almost seemed embarrassed. Royce continued talking, wanting to get through this quickly. "So should we sit down? I feel like this is going to be a long talk."

They agreed and sat in a circle in the waiting room. The boys began their barrage of questions right away, trading off turns and not always pausing to let her answer. She answered every single question that they asked as honestly as possible while leaving out the details of being an alpha and her pack.

She gave the cliff notes version of her life. She was bit when she was five on a camping trip with her family. She was left alive (obviously) but turned. Her parents didn't know what to do when she transformed. She had had to learn to control it fast—her parents made sure to lock her up during the full moon.

She didn't tell them that her parents loved her, but that she terrified them. That they didn't just keep her locked away during the full moon, but all the time. That she would have gone crazy without her big sister. And she didn't tell them about the gruesome night that she had become an alpha. The night that the Alpha who turned her came back for her and tore apart her family. The night that she had to kill to try and save her sister, but that she was too late.

The rumors are false by the way. There is no cure. Kill the alpha who bit you and you'll just become the new alpha. She learned that the hard way.

But no, she didn't say any of that. She stuck to the story that her pack had agreed to. That she had been sent to live with her Aunt Cara—to help her care for her sick Uncle James. That they lived in a small apartment in town—one that the pack had gone as far as renting out and setting up this morning in case the boys asked for proof. It had been pretty impressive. She still didn't know how they had done it so fast.

Scott and Stiles listened thoroughly to her entire story, waiting for any holes but finding none.

Then it was her turn. She got some answers on how Scott was turned and who knew about him. And she got the lowdown on some of the recent craziness that had been happening in this town.

Once he was done telling her about Jackson, the former kanima, he fell silent. Something was kind of bugging her now. "Can I ask you something that I know you're not going to want to answer?"

"Do I have a choice?" Scott answered.

"Of whether I ask or whether you answer?"

"Either."

"Not really," she replied honestly. "Is your wolfiness the reason that you and Allison aren't together anymore?" She couldn't shake the feeling that Allison was connected to this all somehow, but he had barely mentioned her.

"There's a lot of other stuff that went on that has made it hard for her to be with me. And most of it has nothing to do with how we feel about each other—but she has some issues with the werewolf stuff."

Royce translated the longwinded response into a basic 'yes'.

Stiles had listened as Scott talked the entire time and it was clear something was bothering him. "I think you're leaving out a very important and dangerous detail," he finally said in frustration.

"No, I'm not," Scott said firmly.

Stiles paused. He let out a big breath of air through his nose like an angry bull. "There are hunters," he informed her.

"Stiles stop!" Scott was pissed.

"We're telling her Scott. For once, I'm deciding. Protect Allison all you want, but if Royce is out tonight I don't want her to get hurt," Stiles declared in a way that made Scott change his mind. Scott could see the same sense of overprotection for Royce in Stiles that he felt towards Allison.

Scott began to tell Royce about the Argents. He did it in a way that made it clear that none of them should be hurt. They were just trying to protect the town. And Royce knew that there would be a problem with Scott if anything happened to Allison.

Stiles left to grab a couple of sodas from the vending machines. Scott decided to confide in her. "I never thought I'd see Stiles acting that crazy protective over anyone but Lydia."

Royce gave him a reluctant smile. "Which would be nice to hear, but I can't compete with a dream girl."

Scott seemed like he was about to argue, but Stiles came back with the drinks. He handed them around and then clapped his hands together. "Anything we left out?" he asked Scott.

Scott chewed at his lower lip and then met his best friend's eyes. "No, but I think that I should bring her to meet Derek."


	7. Chapter 6

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hello! I hope you enjoy this chapter. We get to have a little bit of Derek and Royce fun in this one. I will probably get at least one more chapter in before the season premiere. So excited! Review if you can!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Six

Stiles stared at Scott like he had six heads or at least like he had heard wrong. "Are you crazy? We're not taking her to Derek!" he protested vehemently.

"She will be in a lot more trouble if he finds out about her on his own than if I introduce her." Scott said, trying to use logic to placate his friend. Royce was kind of surprised that Scott was using reason.

"No, no, no, no! This will not go well. He's going to try to work his alpha magic on her and get her to join his pack."

"I don't think that will be a problem." She argued.

"You don't know him—he's got a way of convincing people."

Royce touched Stiles's arm lightly. She killed his protest immediately. "I think I should meet him." She knew it was the right thing to say—it was why she was here. It was what her pack wanted. But she felt bad about the way that Stiles got all huffy about it. He was worried about her and frustrated with Scott and she hated that it was all her fault.

Stiles reluctantly drove the three of them to Derek's and about ten minutes later Royce was walking around an abandoned subway station with a broken down car.

"Nice place," Royce commented as she took in the decrepit subway car. There were dents in the walls and graffiti covering the windows. All together it was a pretty depressing place.

"Remind me, what exactly does Derek do?" she asked, pointing at their surroundings.

Scott paused for much longer than one usually has to. "Well, um…I don't actually know." He looked to Stiles who just shrugged. "Nothing?"

Royce nodded as she processed that information. "Okay, so this twenty-something guy—a college dropout—has no job and no real home. Because clearly," She gestured to the room, "he's squatting. And he spends all of his time hanging out with high school kids. Can I call creeper on this or is there something that I'm missing?"

Stiles's smile got bigger and bigger as her descriptions of Derek piled up on top of one another. He was loving how unimpressed she was with Derek.

Scott laughed. "I never thought of it that way before."

Royce popped her head into the subway car to get a better look around. She didn't see any kind of anything that made the place home or just not _really_ sad.

"What are you doing?" A booming, angry voice demanded. It wasn't Scott or Stiles. Royce turned to see Derek walking in from some tunnel-like hallway that she hadn't really noticed. He was glaring at her, but she had a feeling that he was talking to the boys. "Why did you bring her here?" he shouted. His eyes were burning and not just in the smoldering, sexy bad boy way that she could tell he gave off naturally, but in an extreme anger kind of way.

"We thought you should meet." Stiles said in a way that made it clear he didn't think it was a good idea at all.

Royce noticed a guy trailing behind Derek. He was tall and kind of brooding with a sort of sad sack look in his eyes. He was far too young and good-looking to look so depressed. She enjoyed his curly hair and the way it fell into his eyes when he hunched forward. Is everyone in this town attractive?

"You don't bring someone here that I don't know!" Derek roared.

"Too late for that," Scott replied. Derek's anger was barely fazing him, like he had seen it all too many times before.

Derek clenched his jaw and started towards Scott who backed away a little. The curly haired boy grabbed Derek's arm and spoke, "I think we should hear them out. I'm sure they have a good reason for bringing her here."

Derek ripped his shoulder out of the boy's grip. "Isaac, when I want your opinion I'll ask for it. There _is_ no good reason for why they are here with her."

Royce walked into the center of the room between Derek and Scott, making sure that all eyes were on her. She smiled. "So are you guys just going to fight about me or are you going to actually talk to me?" She opened her arms like she was welcoming any conversation.

Derek focused on her completely. He took in every inch of her and Royce noticed something shift in him slightly. "Why are you here?" he asked her directly.

She looked over her shoulder to see Stiles anxiously wringing his hands together. She winked at him to calm his nerves and then faced Derek again. "Better if I show you." She let her fangs drop and her nails grow. She controlled her transformation to the point of keeping her eyes from glowing red. And when she knew she had made the point that she was getting at—that she was a werewolf too—she let it all fade back.

He didn't react right away. She knew he must have been expecting something like this—why else would she be here, but she was still a little surprised. Once he did though, it was fast. He lunged forward. Luckily, Scott and Stiles knew him well. Before Derek had even decided on how to react, Stiles was pulling her backwards and Scott was stepping in front of her.

She wanted to stop them. She wanted to stand to Derek—to make him respect her. She knew she could hold her own against him, but she couldn't let him know she was also an alpha. She needed him to think he was stronger for now—that she was just an omega. So she let the boys protect her and appreciated the effort.

"Derek, back off." Scott warned. Isaac joined in the efforts to help pull Derek away from her as Scott blocked his path. "She's a friend."

"No! I don't _know_ her Scott! Have you learned nothing from this past year?!" he hollered.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone and I'm not here to cause any trouble. Can I say the same for you?" she asked Derek. He closed his mouth and took a hard breath through his nose as he listened and tried to calm himself.

Royce tapped lightly on Stiles's hands, which were still on her arms. He let her go and she stepped around Scott. Isaac slowly let his hands fall away from Derek who stayed still. He just watched her.

"How can I prove to you that I'm not your enemy?" She locked eyes with him.

"You can't."

Royce actually laughed at that. "I probably should have seen that coming." She shrugged. "Why don't I start by introducing myself?" She held out her hand for him. "I'm Royce." He just stared at her hand and crossed his arms. She took it back. "Well, that's just rude." She sighed. "What do you want to know about me?"

Derek shot a quick look at Scott and Stiles before he started barking question after question at her in a much harsher version of the conversation she had already had earlier with Scott and Stiles. She didn't like his tone or his attitude, but she fought the strong urge to laugh in his face or ignore him altogether. She didn't cower or plead with him as he got bolder and bolder and started coming towards her. She let him back her up into one of the hard, cement walls. She waved off the concern from the three boys watching. She answered every question he threw at her based on the same story that she had given Scott and Stiles.

Her back hit the wall and she had to rest her head against it to look up at his face as he bore down on her. That's when she decided it was time to gain a little bit of an edge. He was in the middle of asking her about the "aunt" and "uncle" that she had mentioned, when he faltered at the sight of her smile and the feeling of her hands tugging lightly on the ends of his unzipped jacket. She pulled down a little to tug his head toward her and leaned in to whisper in his ear with her breath on his neck. "You seem pretty excited Derek."

She heard his heart speed up just a bit. "Excuse me?"

"You shouldn't forget that unlike every other person you seem to keep company with, I may be young but I'm not new at this." She shifted a little so he could look down at her eyes.

"Is that a threat?" he growled. He closed his hands over hers on his jacket, but didn't remove them.

She looked down at where he touched her. "No, it's just a fact. I've been a werewolf since I was five. Even if I couldn't hear the way your heart beats a little faster when you get close to me or the way your dilated eyes don't seem to know a safe spot to land without giving you away, I can smell it in the air."

"It?"

"You—the pheromones. Ya know, like what happens when a puppy goes into heat."

Derek widened his eyes a bit in surprise and maybe confusion. He wasn't sure how to deal with her. She looked over his shoulder at the boys watching him. She could tell that Scott and Isaac were listening in.

"So tell me, is it one of the boys over there that has you pumping out those pheromones? No judgment, just curious." She looked away from the boys behind him to find his eyes again. "Or am I right and is standing this close to me getting you all hot and bothered?"

Derek swallowed, feeling unusually awkward at her words. He hastily pushed away from her. He stalked back over to the boys and waited for her to join.

Stiles leaned over to Scott to ask, "What did she say to him?"

Scott balked. "I really don't think you want to know," he said as she approached to form a circle.

"Why are you in Beacon Hills?" Derek asked, calmly this time.

"Like I said, I needed a change. I came to help out my family here and get a fresh start."

"What about your parents?" Derek asked.

"Don't worry about them."

"Why not?"

"Because they're dead." She saw him open his mouth to push for more. She looked down at her feet and got there first. "I'd rather save that sob story for another day."

Derek actually respected her request. He knew what it was likely to lose family. "What do you know about the alpha pack?" he asked her suddenly. Scott and Stiles hadn't asked her that.

"The what?" Scott asked.

And that's when she knew why.

"There is a pack of alphas here." Derek answered shortly.

"Is that exactly what it sounds like?" Stiles asked.

"A pack of werewolves in which every member is an alpha. Yes." Derek's had yet to leave Royce.

"Why is this the first time I'm hearing of this?" Scott shouted in one of his typical fits of anger.

"I've been trying to talk to you all week," Derek said with a pointed look at Stiles.

"Did I forget to give you that message?" Stiles asked Scott with a wince. Scott turned to Stiles and gave him a little shove. "That's my bad."

There was no getting around it this time—no half-truths or omissions. She just straight up lied, "I don't know about an alpha pack. I had picked up on some scents throughout town—when I found out about Scott yesterday I just assumed that was what it was. But if they're alphas they'll know how to cover their tracks and scents—how to keep who they are a secret."

All four of them stared at her, wondering how she knew so much. She hoped she hadn't just given herself away.

"Why should I believe anything you've said?" Derek asked her, his eyes narrowed.

"Because I may not know about this pack, but I may have an idea of why they're here," she answered, wondering if she was doing the right thing, wondering what her pack would think if they knew what she was about to tell them—she didn't think they'd approve.


	8. Chapter 7

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hello! So this will probably be the last post before the season three premiere on Monday! I'm so excited guys I can't wait. There's a lot of new information about the alpha pack's reason being in town in this one along with information about a new creature. If you recognize the creature name, just know that there are no religious associations with these creatures in this story-they just fit in the best for the story's purposes within the mythology of shapeshifting creatures. Please keep reading and reviewing. Seriously to all of my reviewers, you make me so excited to keep writing and posting quickly and you guys have been so great. THANK YOU!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Seven

Derek took a step toward her, his previous calm starting to dissipate. "If you know nothing about the alphas then why would you know why they're here?" he asked with an edge to his voice.

"Are you accusing me of something? If you are, I think you need to get on with it." Royce responded, taking a step toward him. She was done pretending to be intimidated.

"You just seemed to have shown up at an interesting time."

"I'd say I showed up exactly when you needed me to." Her voice got louder as she spoke.

Derek's eye suddenly flashed red and he attacked. She knew he was trying to provoke a reaction from her and she refused to give it. He slammed her against the outside of the subway car, causing a loud screech. Scott and Isaac moved to intervene until they realized that she didn't need it. She slammed her head against his, throwing him off of her. "Good to know that you're not afraid to hit a girl," she commented as he rose and came at her again. She fought him off well, dodging and blocking his blows while getting in a few of her own. And she made sure that she didn't transform. When she got the opportunity to flip him on his back, she took it and pinned him down. Derek seemed distracted by her straddling him.

"With everything that I've had to deal with in my life, a baby alpha like you is not going to make me lose control." She breathed heavily and looked up to see Scott, Stiles, and Isaac watching her in shock. "Now, are you ready to listen to me?" She got off of Derek and offered her hand to help him up. He stared at it skeptically. Again. "You can either stop accusing me and listen or I can leave you alone to fail at figuring this out yourself." She waved her hand in front of him in annoyance.

She had just about given up hope that he would accept it when he surprised her and slapped his hand into her own. She pulled him to his feet. Derek looked pretty brow beaten. "What do you know?"

Royce stretched out a kink in her neck and went to sit at the entrance of the subway car. "I met some people—other werewolves—when I lived in the city. We weren't a pack or even friends really, but they were good contacts. Good people to run with during the full moon and to get information from." She took turns looking at each guy to see if they believed her. She couldn't tell. It was the hardest to look at Stiles—it made her feel guilty and she felt like he could see through her. "And there had been rumors floating around. More like warnings really—of a group who were looking to gather an army of some sort."

"Who is this group? The alpha pack? Other werewolves?" Stiles questioned.

"No, not the alphas or werewolves either really."

"Then what? What are they?"

"Raksasha," she answered.

"Bless you," Stiles chimed in.

"You're joking, right?" Scott asked Royce, ignoring Stiles altogether.

Royce shook her head. "I didn't name them!"

Stiles nodded for her to continue. It was clear the guys had no idea what she was talking about. She wasn't surprised. "I don't know all that much about them, but the rumors are kind of scary. They're shapeshifters—like us." She pointed between her, Isaac, Derek, and Scott.

"Thanks, I didn't need to be reminded that I'm the only person in this town who's not a werewolf." Stiles said sarcastically.

She shot him a little smile. "These creature may even be what werewolves have evolved from. I think they can control their shape more—become anything and anyone they choose. But their true form is said to have protruding fangs and razorsharp, possibly venomous claws."

"Doesn't sound much worse than werewolves," Scott said.

"Also, they are ashen cannibals with insatiable hunger, super strength, and the ability to fly," she added.

"And there it is." Stiles said to Scott.

"They are said to be reincarnations of particularly wicked humans. For some reason, they're rising apparently with the goal of overpowering lesser creatures. Ya know, like _us_."

"How many?" Scott asked. She could see him trying to work through all of this new information in his head.

"I'm not sure. Not many, but they're powerful enough to not need too many numbers to gain control of others." She let all this sink in. It was the next part especially that could get her in huge trouble with the pack or could help plant the seeds to get the outcome that she wanted for them. "I'm guessing the alphas are here to recruit. Build up some sort of defense against the raksasha."

She looked to Derek for his reaction. This was the moment that she had been building towards all week. How would Derek handle the idea of joining her pack? Was he strong enough for them? Was he a good enough alpha to become part of the pack? He hadn't said anything as she told her story, but when she caught his eye he shook his head.

"No, I don't buy any of this. I've never even heard of these things before." Derek refused to take her word for it. It wasn't a good sign for him joining the pack.

"Yea and you never heard of a kanima before until Jackson came along, but that doesn't make him any less real, does it?" She was annoyed now and worried that her whole mission may have been for nothing.

"How did you know about the kanima?" Derek asked her, but he glared at Scott and Stiles.

"Yea, that's my bad." Stiles raised his hand.

Derek rolled his eyes and sighed.

Royce stood up abruptly. She was fed up with his attitude. "Believe me or don't, but I'm done with this right now. Let me know when your head finally escapes your ass and you're ready to listen."

She nodded to Isaac and smiled at Scott before taking off. She knew Stiles would follow her—it's what she would do for him. She stood at the top of the station entrance until he stumbled out after her.

"Hey," he said when he saw her waiting.

"Do I know how to make an impression or what?"

Stiles shrugged. "You made one on me."

She smiled. "I should get home for now. But I'm guessing Scott will want to keep tabs on me tonight with the full moon and everything so I'll text you later."

"Let me drive you," he offered.

She shook her head. "I'm fine. You should go back down there. I'm pretty sure they have a lot to discuss."

He nodded and she pressed a kiss to his cheek. They reluctantly went their separate ways.

* * *

Royce spent the rest of the day thinking over everything that had happened and avoiding her pack. She texted Cara that she would be with Scott during the full moon. She buried herself in the back corner of the comic book store until it started to get dark. She got a text from Stiles that she should meet Scott at the vet's office. Stiles wasn't there. Just Scott. She assumed Scot didn't want to put Stiles in any unnecessary danger. They spent the night uneventfully doing his chores and playing card games to pass the time. She admired the amount of self-control he had after so little time as a werewolf. And she understood why he was such good friends with Stiles. To put it simply, he was a great guy.

By Sunday, Royce had no choice but to return to the pack or else they would have come looking for her. When she got to the house she was immediately ushered into the main room for her debrief. She went through everything as quickly as she possibly could while breezing through the part where she offered up the true motives the pack had for being there. They were not pleased about that. But they were happy that she had finally made contact with the alpha that they had come to evaluate.

"And what do you think about him? What's your first impression?" Cara asked.

Royce gritted her teeth as she thought about Derek and her annoyance level rose right back up to where it was when she left his "home" yesterday. "I don't think Derek is ready to join the pack. He's stubborn and arrogant and his pack doesn't have any faith in him—they ran away from him for a reason. He just doesn't know how to lead." She said, thinking of Isaac who seemed to have more respect and loyalty to Scott than to Derek.

"That didn't stop us from allowing _you_ to join," James snarled.

Royce tried not to snap back at him. "We weren't on the verge of war when I joined—we need people who we can trust and rely on. That's not Derek. I think the pack may want to move on. I'm willing to hang back and keep an eye on him—send word when I think he'll be ready to listen."

Royce could see the alarm on Cara's face. She did not like that proposal.

"We will take your suggestion under consideration."

"How did Derek deal with this 'kanima' if he's such a sorry excuse for an alpha?" The voice was Ryan's and she wanted to sink her claws into him for deigning to talk to her after all the trouble he had cause for her—trouble that she felt he got nothing more than a slap on the wrist for.

She didn't bother to look at him as she answered. "He had help." She shrugged like it was obvious.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

Royce looked at him like he was an idiot. "Derek would have been screwed without the others."

"You mean his pack? The one he 'sucked' at leading?"

Royce hesitated. "No." It was the only answer she could give without going back on what she already said.

"Scott—he worked with Scott McCall. Derek had some help from his uncle too, but really he let Scott lead," she replied with some of the vague answers from the story that Stiles had told her.

"So you think that Scott is a true leader," Cara's sentence seemed to be leading to a bad place.

Royce shot her eyes towards her mentor. She was worried that Cara was misreading what Royce wanted.

"What?" A note of panic seeped into Royce's voice.

"That maybe he's meant to be the true alpha." Cara was nodding as she spoke as though she believed what she said more and more as she thought it over. Royce knew that she was trying to help—that she thought Royce had a thing for Scott and wanted him in the pack. Ironically, Royce truly did like Scott, which was exactly why she didn't want him mixed up in this.

"That's not what I said," Royce commented.

"You've given us a lot to consider today. Thank you," Cara said. And with that she was dismissed.

When she got to her bedroom, Royce lowered herself onto her bed and stared at the wall as she thought about everything. Shit, what had she just done?


	9. Chapter 8

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hey guys! Lots of stuff happening on Teen Wolf these days. I won't say anything about it because I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't gotten to see the new episodes yet, but WOW! Also Dylan O'Brien is looking more amazing than ever! So I hope you enjoy this next chapter. We get some Stiles and Royce bonding time. Please review, I love reading them! Hope you like this. I will post the next chapter soon!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Eight

The next day at school, Royce couldn't keep the guilt from flooding her whole body. Her nerves were frayed and her muscles felt twitchy. There was a crick in her neck and her stomach felt as though it was clenched shut. She hated that she had put Scott at the top of the pack's radar, but she couldn't do anything about it. Except avoid the boys that is.

It helped that the only time she saw Stiles and Scott outside of the classroom (because she texted them a lie about meeting with a teacher during lunch) was when she was at her locker before study hall. Stiles was at a good distance from her and she couldn't help but feel her stomach twist impossibly tighter when she saw him with Lydia. She was leaning against her locker with a hand over her face and he was rubbing her arm gently, comforting her. It was not hard for Royce to walk away from that picture.

She made her way to the library for her free period to sort through her thoughts. She sat down at an open table and pulled out some books to make it look like she was doing work.

Mere minutes later, Royce noticed the doors open and Stiles ducked into the room. Royce watched him from behind a book she held up. He seemed to be actively looking for someone in particular. She sunk lower into her seat and held the book a little higher as cover. She had a feeling she knew who he was looking for.

Her book apparently wasn't nearly enough cover. Stiles spotted Royce within seconds and made a beeline toward her table. When he got there, he slumped down in the seat next to her and let his forehead fall to the table.

Royce stared at him for a long moment before speaking. "Rough day?"

He just grunted in response.

She sighed and set her book down. "Do you want to talk to me about it?" She rubbed his back in small circles.

"I'm not sure you want to hear." He spoke into the table.

She waited for him to tell her anyway, but when he didn't she nodded and returned to her notebook. She could still see him out of the corner of her eye. She ignored it when he turned his face so that his cheek rested against the table and he started picking at the corner of one of her books. But she couldn't ignore it when he let out an exaggerated sigh. She snapped her notebook shut and dropped it on the table.

"Just tell me," she ordered.

He lifted his head to rest his chin on his folded hands. "No, it's fine." He sighed again.

"Tell me. Tell me _now_ or I'll kick you."

Stiles laughed and nodded. He sat up straight. "It's just…it's Lydia." Royce winced, but she nodded for him to continue. "I was so happy because I saw her earlier and she seemed upset. And for once when I asked her what's wrong she opened up to me. She felt comfortable enough to confide in me."

"So what's wrong?"

"All she wanted to talk about was her relationship with Jackson, which is the last thing I want to think about."

Royce rubbed her eyes and laughed. "Do you see the irony in what you're doing?"

"I know, I'm sorry. That's why I wasn't going to say anything." He looked down at where he was lightly drumming his fingers against the table. Royce noticed the librarian shooting him a dirty look. Royce was starting to get used to his little ticks—she didn't find them annoying at all. They were pretty cute.

"Okay, I'm about to give you my spiel—it's a one time only offer and once it's over I'm going to ban you from talking to me about Lydia in any kind of romantic way. Okay?"

Stiles lifted his eyes to her. He tried to keep any sign of the cocky smile off his face. He felt a little guilty about how much joy he got out of knowing that she was jealous. "Deal."

"Stiles, you know what I think of you."

Stiles raised his eyebrows and gave his head a little shake. He wanted to hear her say it.

She smacked his arm. "Stop. You know how much I like you. And in my personal opinion, Lydia is not good for you or right for you."

Stiles went immediately on the defensive. "I have to disagree."

"No you don't." She brushed off his interruption. "If I'm being completely honest with you, she seems like a shallow, self-serving person who knows exactly what buttons to press to make a person self-destruct and she takes pleasure in pressing them."

"Don't hold back," Stiles quipped.

"Oh, I won't because the worst thing about her is that it's obvious how intelligent she is, meaning she knows exactly what she's doing to people and she does it anyway. She pretends to be an idiot because she's too self-obsessed and cowardly to be herself." Royce stopped herself. She was getting more and more worked up as she spoke and needed to relax. She took a short breath and avoided eye contact.

"But despite all of that, I know that you have real feelings for her and that means that there must be something that I'm missing about her—some deep, redemptive quality that I don't see. Because the guy that I know wouldn't be in love with the girl that I just described.

Stiles could feel his cheeks heating up and he hoped that they weren't turning red. It didn't matter though. Royce wouldn't look at him as she got more and more uncomfortable. She just looked down at her hands.

"And if I'm right, which I usually am—that something deeper that you see will eventually surface and she's going to get rid of Jackson. If she's as smart as I assume she is, she will see you the same way that you see her."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You don't really believe that."

She wanted him to know how sincere she was. She looked at his face and tapped his chin so that he looked back.

"I do mean it. And I can only hope that when she finally does, it will be too late. That you will have already moved on to someone who saw exactly how great you were from the jump." Stiles stared at her more and more intently as she said each word.

As soon as she was done with her sentence, she wanted to curl up under the table and hide. Instead she held his stare. At least she held it until she couldn't stand it anymore. She started gathering her books to leave when Stiles grabbed her hand.

"I'm confused," Stiles told her. "You say that you like me and you want me to get over her, but the other night you wouldn't let me kiss you."

Royce laughed. "I know. I'm sorry."

"I'm just getting mixed signals."

"I know, but I don't want to be the 'meantime' girl."

He quirked his head to the side like a dog trying to figure her out. He had a blank sort of look on his face that said he had no idea what she was talking about. "Come again?"

Royce immediately wished that she hadn't said anything as she geared up to explain. "That girl—that 'in the meantime' girl. The one who's guaranteed to get her heartbroken. You know what I mean?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. All I can think about it what a weird word meantime is. Where did it even come from?"

She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Stiles focus!"

"I'm sorry. I _don't_ know what you mean."

Royce rubbed the back of her neck. "Okay, um…let's say that there's this guy. We'll call him 'Steven'." She added air quotes to his name to make it clear she was actually talking about Stiles. "And Steven has this dream girl who he has obsessed over for years. Her name is…'Lisa'. Unfortunately, Lisa is in a bit of a selfish jerk phase when it comes to dating and isn't interested in Steven. So 'in the meantime' Steven preoccupies himself with another perfectly good and fun girl who is great, but she's not the dream—not the obsession. Let's call her Rrr…?"

"Rachel?" Stiles suggested. He was very intrigued.

"Sure. And so right about the time that Rachel pretty much falls all in for this guy—because of course she will because he's awesome—Lisa finally comes to her senses and steals him away. And he'll go because she is the dream and he _has_ to know what it's like. So that leaves Rachel completely heartbroken and alone in the meantime."

There was a long pause as she finished her story.

Finally Stiles admitted, "Wow, you're right. That would suck."

"It really would and I refuse to ever be that girl."

Stiles scoffed at her. She was actually a little hurt by his reaction until she heard his next words. He placed his right hand over her left. "You're too strong to ever be that girl."

She actually smiled at him. She shifted her hand so that she could squeeze his fingers. "I always thought that I was, but I'm coming to realize that I'm actually not."

She shot him a little smile and leaned forward to press a lingering kiss to Stiles's cheek. "I'll talk to you later and we will never speak of this conversation again," she said, clearly embarrassed about how much she revealed about her feelings. She grabbed her things and left the library. Stiles watched her intently the entire time, trying to figure out if everything she said had changed how he felt.

He was beginning to think that it did.


	10. Chapter 9

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hello all! Here is the latest installment. I won't lie, I'm not entirely happy with a portion of this. If the Lydia stuff feels out of character for you I apologize. I personally don't like her character so I find it difficult to write her. If you have any advice or notes please feel free to share! I finally got to respond to my reviewers! Thanks again you guys! You rock. Hope to see some more views and reviews if you get the chance. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Nine

After her conversation with Stiles, all Royce really wanted to do was get home and sleep off the rest of the night. Of course that didn't happen.

She returned to the house to find that the pack was gathered in the living room. She sighed and slung her bag to the floor. "I literally have nothing to report!" she shouted. As though to prove her point, she opened her arms wide to show that they were empty.

"We didn't ask for a report." James snapped back.

Royce folded her arms over he chest. "Then what?"

"We've come to a decision based on your observations." Cara informed her.

"And what would that be?" she asked, her suspicion revving into high gear.

"We are switching our focus to Scott McCall. You may stop trying to get close to Derek and work on maintaining your relationship with McCall." James instructed.

Royce's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, what?" She hoped that she had misunderstood him.

"We believe Scott could be a better addition to the pack than Derek. We agree with your assessment of them." Cara answered. She seemed to be confused by Royce's reaction. And Royce realized that Cara had expected her to be excited by the news. Cara still thought that she had feelings for Scott. Had Cara pushed this idea forward on Royce's behalf?

"No, this is not what I meant." Royce said. She locked eyes with Cara, pleading with her to understand. "It's not a good idea. Technically Scott's not even a true alpha."

"That will have to change." James said. A ghost of a smile drifted across his lips.

Royce balked. She shook her head. "Are you saying that you want him to kill Derek—to become the alpha?"

She took their group silence as a 'yes'.

"No!" she protested vehemently. "No, he won't do it! Scott isn't going to kill Derek—or anyone else if he can help it."

"You'll have to convince him."

"He can't be convinced! He's not the killing type!"

"You mean like you?" James taunted.

Royce swallowed and moved past his taunt to continue her protest. "I'm telling you that this is the wrong path. Scott has ties here. He has his mom and close friends that are like family to him. Nothing we say would make him leave them. He also has some basic morals and a strange sort of loyalty and brotherhood when it comes to Derek. Derek has none of those things—he may not be as good a choice right now as Scott, but I can help him become a powerful ally. I'll get him to trust me and fight with us. I can't guarantee that with Scott—there is more potential for trouble with him."

"What makes you think you could convince Derek over Scott?"

"He likes me. A lot." She paused. "In an intimate way I mean."

"How could you tell?"

"Sharper breathing, faster heartbeat, and his eyes look me up and down so much that they barely leave me. But mostly I could smell it."

Royce's cheeks got hot as the pack went quiet with consideration.

"Fine. Keep watch on Derek still." James said. Royce breathed a small sigh of relief. It was premature. "_And_ on Scott. It's likely the new plan will go forward as stated."

The pack was dismissed, but Royce stayed. She stood in place as the meeting broke up around her and the pack filtered out. She wanted to pinch herself to wake up from this nightmare. It didn't work.

Cara noticed that Royce hadn't moved and approached her. She placed a tender hand on Royce's shoulder.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Royce shook her head 'no'.

"I'm sorry if this new course of action took you off guard. But it's a good thing." Cara assured her.

Royce stared straight ahead, not looking at her mentor. "I think I need to come clean with Scott."

"Excuse me?" Her tone was not pleased.

Royce finally looked at Cara. "I know him. He's a clever kid—smarter than he looks. And he's loyal as all hell to his friends—to the people he loves. I'm on track to be one of those people. If I tell him now and ask for help, I think he will do all that he can for me. If we wait much longer, we burn that bridge and make an enemy."

Cara narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "What was your mission?" The way she said it made Royce stand up straighter. It was not a question really, more of a warning. She sounded almost cold.

Royce swallowed hard. "Infiltrate the pack in Beacon Hills. Identify the alpha. Observe and report back. Wait for further instruction."

Cara nodded. "Nowhere in your orders were you told to reveal yourself. That could put us all in jeopardy."

Royce scoffed. "Not telling him is what will put us all in jeopardy."

"The answer is no. You will obey orders." Cara said sternly.

The look of despair must have been clear across Royce's face as Cara softened a bit. She gently squeezed Royce's shoulder before walking away. Royce watched her go, wondering what her best option was—following orders or following her gut.

* * *

Stiles rubbed at his eyes for the third time in fifteen minutes, trying to focus on the homework in front of him. It didn't keep his thoughts from drifting once again from the finer points of economics to the women in his life. He was surprised to find himself obsessing over one girl in particular. It wasn't the obsessing that was unusual, not for him at least, it was the fact that the girl that he was obsessing over wasn't Lydia. He smiled as he imagined Royce's reaction to that news. She might actually consent to finally letting him kiss her if she knew.

He tapped his highlighter against his econ packet and began marking the pages indiscriminately when his dad knocked on his door and poked his head inside.

"What's up?" Stiles asked and dropped the highlighter on the desk.

"Any idea why a girl would be here to see you?" Sheriff Stilinski asked as though he was genuinely confused.

Stiles's thoughts immediately jumped to Royce. "It's not unheard of." He countered.

"I've never heard of it."

Stiles acted offended. "Maybe that was before I became a lacrosse stud." He joked.

"Stud or dud?"

Stiles was about to reply when a female voice interrupted. "Are you going to let me in or do I have to listen to this all night?" It was Lydia. She pulled the door open so that she could squeeze past Sheriff Stilinski.

Stiles practically fell out of his chair when she entered the room. He had expected Royce, not Lydia.

"I'll leave you to it then." Sheriff Stilinski said. He took a long moment to look between Stiles and Lydia before exiting. He left the door ajar.

Stiles jumped to his feet and noted Lydia's intentional closing of his door before she moved to sit on his bed. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.

She ignored his question and patted the bed beside her. He tripped over the rug trying to get to her. He finally settled next to her, his foot tapping nervously.

"I needed someone to talk to and you were the first person that I thought of." Lydia told him.

"Over Alison?" he asked. He was excited that he was her go to guy.

Lydia rested her hand on top of his knee. He inhaled sharply. "Alison has a lot going on. And she doesn't like talking about Jackson anymore with the whole werewolf thing." Stiles sighed. "I know you don't have a problem with it."

"Yea." Stiles stared at where her hand was gently brushing closer to his thigh.

"It's just that Jackson and I got into a fight again. He says I'm shallow and ungrateful. It makes no sense! We were so good. I don't know what happened."

"Sometimes the wolf thing—it makes them say things that they don't mean. You should have heard Scott around his first full moon."

"He's wrong ya know." She said as though she barely heard him. Stiles didn't know what else to say. "I mean, I'm grateful—I am. Like I'm grateful to you for all you've done to help me." Her hand got even higher on his thigh. Stiles tried to keep himself from yelping. "And I'm not shallow," Stiles barely heard what came out of her mouth as her hand and her face got closer. "I wouldn't be here with you if I was shallow." Lydia whispered and closed the gap to kiss him.

Stiles didn't pull away, but he didn't exactly give in either. His mind was still behind in processing what was happening. This conversation had escalated so quickly that he couldn't figure out how they ended up here. Lydia broke away, but kept her lips close.

Stiles swallowed. He had to build up the courage to ask, "Are you doing this because you actually like me or just to prove a point?"

Lydia reached up and traced a finger down his cheek. "Would it really make a difference?"

"This surprises even me, but yes I think it might."

Lydia sighed and grabbed his face. "Then stop thinking so much and take the win." She pressed her lips to his aggressively, pushing him back on the bed. Stiles resisted longer than he ever thought possible, but what can you really do when your dream finally comes true? All he could do was take his "dream" girl's advice, stop thinking, and give in.

* * *

Royce tried to concentrate on the pounding of her heartbeat and slap of her feet against the road as she ran. She was trying to clear her head, but it wasn't working. A fact that she realized when she ended up in Scott's neighborhood, stopped outside his house. She paced outside for a minute, glancing up every now and then at the window that she knew was his.

"Oh God, what am I doing?" Royce asked herself aloud. "I should just run home." Royce nodded as she spoke, trying to convince herself. She caught another glance at his window and her resolve evaporated. "No, I'm here. I'm doing this. He should know." Each time she started a new sentence her paces shifted directions. "Right?" She stopped walking this time to contemplate the question.

"Royce!" She jumped at the sound of her name and looked up at Scott's window. He rested his hands on the windowsill as his head poked out from his room. "What are you doing?"

"Talking to myself." She shrugged.

"So I heard. Why are you doing it outside my house?"

"Am I creeping you out?" she asked, feeling sheepish.

Scott shrugged. "Do you want to come inside and talk to someone other than yourself?"

Royce nodded. "That would be nice."

Scott disappeared from his window and seconds later he had the front door swinging open. Royce followed him inside the cozy house and up the stairs.

He glanced down at her as he climbed them and said, "Stiles isn't with you."

Royce shook her head as they made it to the second floor landing. "Nope."

He ushered her into his bedroom. "You know he's not already here, right?"

"I know." She walked to the right side of his room, taking it all in.

When she looked back at Scott, she saw that he was watching her with a look of discomfort. She arched an eyebrow at him for the look. If anyone should be uncomfortable it should be Royce.

Royce crossed her arms as Scott started to babble. "Okay, I'm not blind—I think you're really hot, but I'm still hoping to work things out with Alison and if she thought that I was with someone it could—."

"Oh! Ew! No!" Royce interrupted when she finally caught up to where his thoughts had run off.

"Ew?" Scott asked, sounding a little offended.

Royce plopped down on his bed. "Sorry, not ew. But why would you jump to that conclusion? With everything supernatural that's going on, you automatically assume that I'm here to jump your bones."

Scott laughed and took a seat at his desk chair. "To be fair, you're here without Stiles, which is weird."

Royce sighed and played with Scott's comforter. "There's something that I think you guys need to know and I want to see _your_ reaction first."

Scott nodded for her to continue. She stood and started pacing again, mumbling to herself. She was trying to psych herself up to tell him, but all she accomplished was making Scott nervous. She hated this—she was not used to being so uncertain.

"I don't know how to say this."

Scott went over to her and held her in place. "Just tell me, you're freaking me out something major here."

She looked into his eyes and nodded. She put her hand over his that was on her left shoulder. "Promise me something—promise that you will hear me all the way through. You will listen to everything I have to say before doing anything about it."

He squeezed her shoulders and then let his arms fall away from her. "Sure."

Royce sent him a look like she didn't believe him.

He laughed. He sat backwards on his desk chair and twisted it to face her. "Of course! You're my friend. I'll listen to everything that you have to tell me."

Royce turned away from him for a moment and sucked in a long breath. "Okay, please don't flip out." She pleaded as she turned toward him. She made sure that she had his full attention before she pulled at the core of her body to the alpha strength within. She drew out just enough of it to control the shift in her eyes as they flashed their telltale red—the blood red that could only belong to an alpha.


	11. Chapter 10

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hello all! Here is the next installment-how will Scott handle Royce's secret?Read and find out! Anyway I hope you enjoy, please review. I tend to update faster with more reviews (shout out to those of you that have reviewed, love you guys!), especially since the next chapter has some fun Derek stuff in it. So let me know what you think! But most of all, enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Ten

Royce immediately shifted her eyes back to their typical vibrant violet-blue once she registered Scott's shock and anger. He got the message.

Scott leapt out of his chair to the farthest corner of the room. His canines were dropped and his eyes were yellow.

"You're one of them!" he roared.

"Scott, please stop! You promised!" She pleaded with him.

"Yea, a minute ago when I thought you were my friend—not my enemy!"

"I _am_ your friend!" She threw her hands up in surrender. "I swear. I don't want to hurt you. I'm telling you to protect you!"

Scott didn't react. He just stayed on the other side of the room—tense and vigilant. Neither one of them moved for what seemed like hours—just a stand off—until Royce slowly moved to sit on the bed.

"Okay, stay like that if you need to, but hear what I have to say."

Scott remained silent. He just watched her.

Royce started at the beginning. She gave him a cliff notes version of how she became an alpha—of how once she was one it didn't take long for the pack to sniff her out and take her in. She had nowhere else to go. She told him about her lowly status in the pack and her first assignment in Beacon Hills. She caught him up on all of the missing pieces to why she was here and who the pack was. She got so absorbed in her story that she didn't notice his fangs slowly retreating and his eyes glazing back over to brown.

"I'm sorry if you don't trust me," she rambled. "I never wanted that, but I've gotten to know you and I knew it was better for you to find out now than later. I know you will do anything for your friends, which is one of the reasons I like you so much, and I didn't want to ruin all chances that I could be one of those friends to you—and you one of those friends to me."

"You should have told me everything from the jump." Scott finally spoke.

Royce startled when she heard his voice and saw him standing close behind her. "Like you told Allison everything about you right away," she said pointedly.

"That's different! Her family was trying to kill me."

"So by different you mean exactly the same."

"Huh?"

"You didn't see the alpha pack as an enemy?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

Scott slowly came to sit next to Royce on his bed. "I understand why you didn't say anything right away, but why not sooner?"

Royce sighed. "I like you Scott—and Stiles, well you know there are some feelings there and I didn't want you to hate me, to be my enemy. And as it is, I'm going against direct orders by telling you now."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Direct orders?"

Royce shrugged. "Yea, I had to. They're getting interested in you. Derek's not exactly the best alpha, but I know you don't want this life–_my_ life. So I just needed to warn you about it, but if they knew I was doing this…"

"What would they do?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Probably rip my heart from my chest."

Scott laughed at what he assumed was a joke, but when he saw the serious look on her face his face drained of color and his jaw dropped open.

Scott let his head fall into his hands. There was a long moment of silence before he spoke. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I believe you." He turned his head, still propped up by his hand, so he could look at her. "And for some reason, I still trust you."

Royce let out a breath of relief as she started to smile—a wide, toothy grin that took over her entire face. "I feel like this is a hug type of moment."

Scott laughed and slung an arm around her. She leaned into him.

"From now on, just tell me the truth about stuff. I'll do whatever I can to help you."

"Deal," she said and rested her head on his shoulder.

"What's going on in here?" A voice asked from the doorway. It was Ms. McCall. Royce's head shot up from Scott's shoulder and Scott fell to the floor in an effort to separate from her.

"Mom!" Scott practically squeaked. "I didn't hear you come home." Scott moved swiftly to talk to his mom in hushed voices in the hallway.

Royce couldn't help herself from listening in.

"Can I ask why you are alone on your bed with Stiles's girlfriend?" Ms. McCall asked Scott.

Before Scott could answer, Royce called out from the bedroom. "Not Stiles's girlfriend actually."

"And I thought there weren't any other girls besides Allison." Ms. McCall continued her questioning after a small pause.

"There aren't." Scott swore.

Royce felt the need to chime in again. "We were just talking Ms. McCall, I swear!"

Even quieter this time, Ms McCall spoke again, slowly as if wondering how to phrase it. "Does she know about you?"

"Yes!" Royce declared.

Ms. McCall poked her head around the corner to speak directly to Royce this time. "I'll leave you two to it then."

Scott came back into his room and listened for his mom's retreating footsteps. Finally, he closed the door and turned back to Royce. "Sorry about that." He sighed. "Look, I don't want anything to happen to you so the less people that know about you the better, but there's a certain person that I think should know."

"Stiles," she stated.

"I can't keep a secret from him no matter how much I try. He's annoying like that." Scott admitted with a smile.

Royce smiled, thinking about Stiles pestering Scott until he broke. "I think it's kind of cute."

Scott looked at her sympathetically. "You _really_ do like him, don't you?"

She grabbed a pillow off his bed and tossed it at him. He laughed as he dodged it as though it was shrapnel. "Shut up!"

He sobered instantly when he thought of a new question. "What about Derek?"

She closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "I don't think we should tell him. Not yet at least."

Scott was unsure. "I don't know."

She patted the spot next to her on the bed and he came to sit there. "Do you really trust him?" she asked. "After everything? Especially with what seems to be a very creepy Uncle Peter buzzing in his ear."

Scott nodded. "You might be right."

She stood up and began pacing again as she worked through her plan aloud. "I think I should stick with the alpha pack—_my_ pack's plan to get close to him, I mean. I will do all that I can to make him a true alpha. It's something I think he could want. And if I do it right you have a 'man' on the inside of both packs—if not, he doesn't need to know that you knew about me." She looked to him. "So what now?"

Scott rubbed his hands on his jeans and then stood up. He clapped her on the shoulder. "We go break it to Stiles."

* * *

Stiles still couldn't fully wrap his head around the fact that he was making out on his bed with Lydia Martin. _The_ Lydia Martin. He was both delighted and confused. Unfortunately, the confusion was slowly taking over the delighted part of his brain.

Finally something clicked that this was a little too strange, Stiles broke the kiss and rolled away from her only to land on the floor. He got to his feet, but maintained his distance. "Okay, I'm sorry, but I need to know what is happening here. Are you still with Jackson or not?"

Lydia looked down, not out of shame, but to make sure that her outfit was still perfectly in place. She smoothed it out as she answered. "Not exclusively, but yes."

Any delight Stiles had felt was gone. He just felt insecure. He crossed his arms. "Then what do you want with me?"

Lydia leaned back, propping herself up with her hands behind her back. It had the effect of jutting her boobs forward. She looked up at him. "You see something in me that no one else seems to—that no one else gets about me. I'm tired of being the airhead that people take for granted. I want someone to want me for who I really am."

Stiles smiled. That had always been him. The smile didn't last long. "And yet, you're still with Jackson."

"Does that change how you feel about me? How you've always felt about me?"

He got too distracted by Lydia's chest to fully hear her question. "What?"

"Do you still want me Stiles?" Lydia stood and walked to him. When she got into position in front of him, she slowly ran a sultry hand down his chest. It had surprisingly more muscle definition than she had expected. Being the best friend to a werewolf was doing his body good. He shuddered as her hand traveled lower and lower and his breath came out in spasms.

Stiles took a step backwards in an effort to stem her advances and try to figure out if she actually had real feelings for him. "Do you even like me?" he finally asked.

"Of course." She answered, but he didn't like that she wasn't looking into his eyes. Not the way Royce does when she's being sincere.

"Really? Because trust me, this goes against all of my instincts since for all intents and purposes my dream is coming true, but something seems off." Stiles admitted. Royce kept popping into his head and he didn't know why he was feeling so guilty. This just felt wrong.

Lydia huffed. "Stiles, just live the dream." Lydia ordered. She yanked him towards her and began kissing him again.

He decided to take her advice and just give in to it all. He could overanalyze everything some other time. The only thing he wanted to think about was where she might let him put his hands.

Stiles vaguely heard his dad's voice call out to him from the den, but in that moment it didn't really register. His dad could wait.

Though apparently Scott couldn't. Scott called out to him from the hallway and the door to his room slammed open.

Stiles slowly pulled away from the daze of Lydia's kiss to shoo Scott away. Stiles had a goofy smile on his face as he turned his head only to lock his eyes onto the crestfallen face of Royce who stood in his doorway, just staring.

Scott watched Stiles and Lydia with wide eyes, his jaw open in awe. Scott shifted his gaze between Stiles and Royce, unsure if he should be happy for Stiles or pissed off for Royce.

Royce blinked hard, doing her best to erase the image that was burrowing into her brain. She turned to Scott. "I changed my mind. This was a bad idea," she told him and walked away without looking back, leaving Stiles more confused than ever.


	12. Chapter 11

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hey all. Hope you're still enjoying this story. This chapter might make some of you hate me and some of you love me depending on who your favorite characters are. Either way let me know how you feel about what's happening! Please read and review! Thank you all!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Eleven

Scott watched as Royce hightailed it out of his best friend's house. Sheriff Stilinski called after her to make sure she was okay, but they all let her go.

Scott was torn about what he should do next. He was having trouble deciding if he felt more sympathetic for Royce or happy for Stiles after seeing him finally get with Lydia.

Scott shot Stiles a half smile and Lydia a wave before deciding Royce needed him more right now.

Royce had taken off at a dead sprint into the woods. She must have made it several miles in before she finally stopped. She crumpled against a tree while trying to catch her breath. As her breathing started to calm, Scott practically skidded past her. When he caught sight of her, he slowed to a halt and crouched down in front of her.

"Are you okay? He asked, huffing slightly.

She closed her eyes and let out a long gasp of air. "I couldn't breathe in that room."

"Well, you got out of there fast enough. You have some wheels on you!" He grabbed at his side like he had a stitch, which actually made her laugh. Scott moved to sit next to her against the large trunk of the tree. He let the silence stretch out for a minute, knowing she needed to think, before he spoke again. "You know we still have to tell him about you." He nudged her shoulder with his own.

Royce shook her head lightly. "Not now. I don't trust her not to suck it out of him—Lydia and my secret I mean. And I can't trust her with my life. Not like I can trust the two of you."

Scott considered that and he could see where she was coming from. "I won't say anything. For now."

"I appreciate that," she said and let her head drop to his shoulder with a thunk.

"But you know Stiles. He will try to drag it out of me eventually and when that happens I'm sending him to you to come clean."

She laughed a little. "Don't push it."

"I won't, but I like you. I like how you treat Stiles. I like how happy he is when you two are together and he won't get over Lydia and get happy with you until he knows everything." Royce shrugged her shoulders a little. "I'm serious. I won't let him." Scott declared.

She nodded. "You know, you're surprisingly wise sometimes McCall." He laughed. "And he's lucky to have you as a best friend."

"I've always thought so," he joked and shifted so that his arm draped over her shoulders.

Scott and Royce sat in the woods for a long time while the night took hold. They didn't speak much, but Royce appreciated Scott being there for her.

Finally Royce lifted her head off his shoulder. She turned to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek before standing up.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"It's time," Royce answered, holding out a hand to help him up.

"Time for what?" he asked once he was on his feet.

"To start getting on Derek Hale's good side."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"I'm going to seduce him," she said with a slight smile.

Scott recoiled a few steps away from her, looking like he wanted to puke. She laughed loudly at his expression and grabbed his wrist to drag him out of the woods behind her.

* * *

Scott walked right through the Stilinski's front door without bothering to knock. He had left Royce to her seductions with a promise that she would call him later. He really didn't want to think about what she was going to do. Once he separated from her, he had checked his phone to find ten texts from Stiles waiting for him. He figured it was safe to assume that Lydia had left. There were two more texts before Scott had arrived back at Stiles's house.

Scott found Stiles pacing back and forth in his room with his phone in hand. Scott watched for a minute before knocking lightly on the doorframe. The sound startled Stiles so much that his phone jumped out of his hand and dove toward the floor, but Stiles didn't care. He practically bowled Scott over trying to usher his friend into the room.

"Where the hell have you been? I've called and texted you like eighty times! Neither you or Royce have responded!" he blabbered excitedly.

Scott raised his eyebrows. "Were you acting like this when Lydia was still here? Because this, right here, might ruin all of the progress that you've made."

"What? No!" Stiles paused to calm himself down. "I very calmly told her that I should find you to see if you guys had come by for something important."

"You? Calmly?" Scott laughed skeptically.

"Dude, shut up! Not the point! Where is Royce?" He walked to his doorway and looked up and down the hall as though she might be hiding there. "Is she okay?" he asked, turning back to Scott.

"Yea, she'll be fine." Scott said the words, but wasn't sure if they were true so he blew by them quickly. "Congrats by the way, you finally got the dream girl, huh?"

Stiles actually smiled as Scott clapped him on the shoulder. He felt sort of proud for a second at attaining a goal he had set for himself in the third grade. That is until he remembered the look on Royce's face when she saw him with Lydia and all of those good feelings vanished. He sobered immediately. "Why were you guys here?" he asked almost sadly.

Scott shook his head and backed up a few steps. "There was something that Royce needed to tell you about." He avoided Stiles's eyes.

Stiles took a step toward his best friend. He was intrigued. "Why don't _you_ tell me about it?"

Scott shook his head. "I can't. I promised her I'd let her talk to you. It's her secret to tell."

"Secret? Scott, come on! I'm your best friend."

"And if it was _my_ life, you'd be the first to know about it, but it's not."

Stiles groaned and flopped down on his bed. "How am I supposed to get her to tell me if she won't answer her phone?" he whined.

Scott sat down in Stiles's desk chair and spun it around a few times. "Well, I'm guessing she turned off her phone so that she wouldn't get interrupted."

"Interrupted from doing what?"

Scott cleared his throat. "Getting some info."

"What kind of info?" Stiles was becoming more and more suspicious.

Scott shrugged and looked away.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Where is she exactly?"

Scott smiled a little, knowing the answer was about to cause panic.

"She's with Derek."

Stiles was completely baffled. "Why?"

Scott sighed and cringed slightly at the mental image of Royce and Derek. "She went to get on his good side so she uh…she's planning on hooking up with him."

Stiles leaned forward as if he didn't hear correctly. "Ex_cuse_ me?"

Scott just shrugged.

* * *

Royce had made sure to change into her tightest jeans and most curve flattering tank top covered only slightly by her leather jacket which she thought Derek would appreciate.

She got to his classy abode, also known as the abandoned subway station, to find it surprisingly empty considering his pack of teens. She approached the subway car slowly and went inside, weaving down the aisle until she got to the end and doubled back to find Derek brooding at the entrance of the car.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in that deep voice that could cause shivers down your spine.

Royce smiled. "I came to talk to you."

Derek didn't smile back. "About?"

Royce had had enough questions from him in their last meeting. It was her turn. "Where's your posse?" she asked as she made a point of looking out the car windows for them.

"I sent them out," he answered curtly.

"I guess I should have called them your slaves, not posse." She couldn't help what came out of her mouth. He just seemed to bring out her antagonistic side. "Where'd you send them?"

"You don't need to know."

Royce approached Derek and saw him stiffen ever so slightly. She inwardly celebrated at that first sign that she might be affecting him. She stopped at the seat closest to the front and knelt facing Derek so that only the metal bar that acted as the armrest separated them.

"Okay, I'm here because I'd like us to be allies," she told him, putting herself forward at an angle that gave him a good view of her chest. She could see him trying not to look.

He struggled to stop his gaze from drifting between her eyes and chest. "I don't trust you."

Royce nodded. "I didn't ask you to trust me. I don't trust you either. And quite honestly, I'm not even sure I like you very much."

"Then how are supposed to be allies?"

"We help each other get what we both want."

Derek swallowed slightly. "There's nothing that I want that you could help me with."

Royce laughed and slowly slipped her arms out of her jacket, shimmying a little to get it off. "Is that right?"

She grabbed the bar in front of her and hoisted herself up to sit on it, swinging her legs around to the front. She was now close enough to Derek to touch him if she leaned forward. He had yet to move.

He clenched his jaw before saying, "Whatever you're trying to do isn't going to work.

She moved forward so that she was only a hairsbreadth away from his lips. "It already is working. Or are you forgetting that I can hear your heart jumping a little faster every time I get closer and I can smell the attraction coming off you in waves." She reached up and ran a hand down his arm. She felt him shiver slightly. It was exciting how much she affected him.

"I don't exactly hear _your_ heart skipping a beat," he said, challenging her motives.

"You don't make me nervous. And you're making me wait before you get me excited apparently." Her hand ran back up his arm to rest of his shoulder and then back around to his neck.

"I told you. I don't trust you."

She scoffed. "You don't have to trust me to want me. That's kind of hot actually." He seemed to agree with that. "But if there's something else—or some_one_ else—holding you back then I'm gone."

"There's no one else holding me back."

"So it's just you holding yourself back then? Because if that's the case then I'll take bets on my persistence over your resolve any day of the week." Royce punctuated the last four words by standing up slowly so that her lips were level with his neck. Once she was done talking, she decided to go big or go home. She traced her lips along his collarbone, skimming the collar of his shirt, and up to his neck where she gently grazed her teeth along his pulse point.

Derek moved so suddenly that he caught Royce off guard, allowing her heartbeat to catch up to his at a sprint. He grabbed her shoulders, held her at arms length and spun until she was pressed firmly against the wall of the subway car.

"I'd put my bet on you too," he confessed before grasping the back of her neck with one giant paw and pulling her face to his own.

His lips were soft, but he kissed her hard like he wanted to leave his mark—and he was doing a good job of it. She was surprised at the warmth of his touch and how hot it was making her. His hands were everywhere in the best way and though usually she would have tried to keep them at bay, she was actually really loving the flashes of hot electricity that were running in currents through every nerve ending in her skin. It was amazing.

A brief image of Stiles and Lydia kissing with the same amount of passion as she and Derek popped into her head and she broke the frantic kiss. She didn't say anything. She stared into Derek's questioning eyes as they both breathed heavily, trying to catch their breath. She could tell that Derek was disappointed that she stopped and she actually felt bad. Not just that, but she was disappointed that it had all stopped too. She smiled at him to reassure him and shook the image of Stiles out of her head. She lightly ran her fingers up his cheek and through his hair, pulling him to her at an achingly slow pace. She kissed him again, just as achingly slow and much more deeply than the frantic kiss from before. Somehow it was better. Sexier even. And when she wrapped her arms around him tighter so that she was flush against him, he elicited a deep groan—or was it a growl?—that vibrated through her body and had her thinking 'who needs Stiles?'.


	13. Chapter 12

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hey guys! In honor of Comic Con this week I decided to get my act together and post the latest chapter. So here you go. Please review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Twelve

Stiles stood frozen, unable to respond further to Scott's news. His brain wasn't properly processing anything further. It was instead stuck on a graphic image of Royce wrapped in Derek's arms, kissing his neck while Derek smirked triumphantly at Stiles before the two began well, "going at it" so to speak. Stiles physically gagged, trying to dispel the image from his mind. He shook his head.

Scott watched Stiles go pale as he thought over what Royce was doing. His friend looked up, almost ill.

"Please tell me you're making an awful joke." Stiles finally spoke again.

Scott shrugged weakly. He felt guilty—he hadn't thought that Stiles would react so badly. "No, not a joke. She thinks that Derek has a thing for her. She wants to use that to get closer to him so that we can all work together."

Stiles rubbed his neck as he considered her plan. "Do you think that she actually likes him?" he asked softly.

Scott struggled to find the right words. He didn't want to completely crush Stiles. He blew out a frustrated puff of air. "I don't know. It's Derek—there's not much personality to like, but he's an alpha. He's older. And well…you've seen him—you've got eyes."

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut. "You're right. I'm screwed."

Scott leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "What? Why does it matter? You're with Lydia now. Aren't you?"

Stiles ran a hand over his hair. His foot was bouncing up and down like a jackhammer. "I don't know. I guess. I think I could be eventually. She's still got something going with Jackson, but she seems confused. I think she could have real feelings for me."

"That's great." Scott said rather unenthusiastically. He didn't like that answer for either Stiles's or Royce's sake. He needed to say something. "But just so you know, there is a girl out there, very close, that I _know_ has real feelings for you."

"If that's true then why is she off hooking up with another guy right now?" he grumbled.

"If you're as crazy about her as you seem to be, why were you just hooking up with another girl an hour ago?" Scott shot back so sharply that Stiles was actually speechless.  
"Besides she's with Derek for our plan and because she was hurt, not because she's confused about her feelings for you."

"You think I'm crazy about her?" Stiles scoffed. "I mean I like her…"

Scott had to laugh. "I _know_ you're crazy about her. Otherwise you wouldn't even hesitate to jump in with Lydia. In fact, you seem to be on the brink of forgetting about Lydia altogether or at least trying to for Royce. That doesn't tell you anything?"

Stiles sighed. He covered his face with his hands and his shoulders began to shake a little. Scott panicked—was Stiles crying?

And then he heard the muffled laughter and smiled in relief. Stiles took his hands away from his face. "Did you ever think I'd have two girl after me at the same time?" he asked. It was clearly a rhetorical question, but Scott felt the impulse to answer anyway.

"Absolutely not!"

* * *

Royce suddenly slammed back against one of the subway seats. It took her only a second to catch her breath before she reached up to grab Derek's arm and pull him down on top of her. He landed with a thud as his hands crashed against the lip of the seat bench and the back rest on either side of her. Royce wriggled to get more comfortable as he hovered over her. She enjoyed the view of the straining arm muscles that held him above her more than she cared to admit. She laughed at their uncomfortable situation—a subway car isn't exactly the best place to make-out.

"Do you really not have a bed anywhere around here?"

"I didn't really think I'd need one for this purpose." Derek admitted though he wore a cocky smirk like he knew the surprise 'victory' was coming all along.

"That's very pessimistic of you Derek—you should really think more of yourself," she teased, running her hand down his back and eliciting a small, but incredibly rare and genuine smile. She put her hands gently on either side of his face. "You've got a great smile. I'd like to see it more." She told him. Her voice was almost affectionate. Then she leaned forward for a slow and sultry kiss that sucked them both in deep.

Derek's hands wandered towards Royce's stomach, trailing her shirt upwards from the strong grip on her hips. Royce followed his lead dipping her hands under his shirt, but he was working too slowly for her liking. She loved the feel of his hands on her waist almost as much as she savored the feel of his ab and chest muscles under her hands. She broke his kiss and tugged his shirt off over his head without asking for his permission, but he didn't mind that much. And he definitely didn't mind when she started kissing her way down his bare chest, sliding her tongue along the creased definitions of his muscles. He groaned and pulled her head up back to his. He kissed her quickly and started to slip her tank top over her head when his hands froze.

He pushed away from her slightly and quirked her head to the side. Royce stared up at him with a question in her eyes, but he wasn't looking back at her. She placed her hands on top of his and tried to help him with the shirt, but he tightened his grip on her hips so that they couldn't be moved.

She shifted so that she was leaning on her elbows instead of her back. "You realize I'm not objecting to less clothes, right? In fact, I'm suggesting it."

Derek looked back down at her, his chest heaving a little as he tried to catch his breath and slow his heart. She wasn't helping his concentration. He smiled when he processed what she said, but he had to shake his head.

She raised an eyebrow at him. He simply tapped his ear. She listened more carefully. He understood why she hadn't noticed anything. The subway station was riddled with constant echoes and drips and animal pitter-patter, but Derek had spent much of his time navigating the subway tunnels. He knew the sounds that belonged and the ones that didn't.

Once she was no longer worried that he wasn't just having second thoughts, she could see the vigilance on his face. That's when she heard it too. The footsteps. She leaned up to whisper in his ear so low that she basically just breathed the words at him. "Your brat pack?"

He shivered. He pulled back to look in her eyes. "I don't know. Stay here," he ordered. He moved to get off her, but stopped briefly to leave her with one more kiss before exiting the car.

Royce rose from her seat and gathered her jacket from where she had thrown it. She put it back on and began fixing her appearance in case she had to go socialize with Derek's pack.

She perked her ears up, waiting for the conversation to start. But there was nothing. And that's when it clicked that something was wrong. Listening closely she could hear that there were too many footsteps coming too quietly. It was the sound of people walking like they didn't want to be heard. Why would Derek's pack be afraid of being heard in their own alpha's lair?

"Shit!" Royce cursed. She bolted out of the car. Derek was standing on the subway platform, looking around slowly as though studying every quadrant of the room to pick out exactly what was wrong.

There was a sudden whiz of wind like something slicing through the air. They both heard it at the same time, but Royce was the first to act.

She shot across the room and tackled Derek out of the path of the arrow. The arrow lodged itself into one of the large stone pillars and promptly exploded.

Royce tumbled over herself, but ended up on her feet ready for action. Derek landed on his feet right next to her. "That would have hurt like a bitch if that had lodged into your skull."

"Yea, thanks."

Allison emerged from the shadows, brandishing her bow and an arrow newly notched to shoot. She stared at Derek with such contempt that she barely saw Royce. She didn't care at all until Royce stepped in front of Derek to try and talk her down.

Allison faltered. "What are you doing?" she sounded confused, maybe even a little hurt.

Royce could see moving around the perimeter in the shadows. She and Derek were about to be surrounded.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Royce replied, reaching her hand out slowly for a large shard of stone that had blown from the pillar in the blast.

"I just want Derek. Get out now—this isn't about you."

Derek shifted so he could look beyond Royce's head to Allison. "Where's your daddy Allison?" he called out to her. "Does he not approve of this little mission?"

Allison cocked her bow a little tighter.

Royce glared at him over her shoulder. "You really think you should taunt her right now?" she hissed at him.

"You shouldn't worry about my dad. You should worry about them." Allison warned him, nodding at the other three hunters who all trained their guns at the two werewolves.

Royce looked between Allison and the other three hunters. "Scott wasn't kidding when he said it was complicated, huh?"

Allison blinked hard a few times, taken off guard at hearing Scott's assessment of their relationship.

"Stop trying to distract me!" she shouted.

Royce wrapped her fingers around the stray shard and pulled it towards her body. "I'm sorry Allison. Nothing against you. I actually really like you. But I can't let you have him." Royce said and she whipped the stone at one of the other hunters. The motion was so fast that he had no time to protect himself. It knocked him hard on the head, sending him sprawling to the ground unconscious.

Derek took her lead, moving quickly as soon as she threw the rock. He sprung himself at the other two hunters, narrowly dodging the arrow Allison release in his direction while Royce ducked behind a pillar that was still standing for cover. She peaked around to see Allison tracking Derek's movements with her bow, waiting for a clear shot.

Royce groaned and quickly moved to scale the stairs to confront the huntress. Allison saw Royce incoming and swung her bow at Royce's face. Royce ducked just in time to avoid contact and thrust her arms upwards to knock the bow away. That didn't stop Allison for very long. She immediately attacked, slicing deftly at Royce with a knife in each hand. She attacked with reckless abandon.

Royce was impressed with Allison's fighting skills. The girl was very well-trained. That only made it harder to keep her at bay without hurting her. Royce had always been good at defense, but she was better at attack.

Royce gasped as Allison nicked her neck and her stomach in quick succession. Her eyes flashed and she growled. Allison thrust her left knife again and Royce caught her wrist, twisting it sharply until the knife clattered to the ground. The right hand and second knife came at Royce immediately. She dodged the attack and instinct took over. She kicked her foot forward, landing the hit square in Allison's stomach. Allison fell back against the wall sharply. She was slow to move, dazed by the blow.

"Sorry Allison. We should definitely talk about this soon!" Royce said, before running to help Derek disable the other hunters long enough to make a clean getaway.

* * *

Royce let Derek lead her away from the hunters, getting lost among the buildings of downtown Beacon Hills and trusting him to lead her somewhere safe. They stopped only briefly in an alleyway for Derek to call his pack and warn them away from the lair. Royce took the time to call Scott quickly and tell him that something had gone wrong. That's all she wanted to say over the phone. She told him that they were heading to one of the cheap motels in town and that he and Stiles should meet them there ASAP before hanging up on him.

When they got to the motel, Royce waited outside while Derek went to get a room. Royce didn't think that the motel was the safest location. Now that the hunters had found Derek's hideout, she had to think that they would assume he'd find a hotel to lay low in until he found a new place. The motel wasn't exactly Fort Knox. Two stories worth of stucco walls with chipped paint and no way of fortifying from attack would not be much help when Allison came looking for Derek again. Royce had a fleeting thought to bring Derek back to her pack—there she knew that he would be safe from the hunters. The thought didn't last long though since she was pretty sure that she would no longer be safe if she brought him there.

Derek returned with a key to room 218 and they quickly made their way over to it, looking behind themselves with every step to make sure they hadn't been tailed.

Royce texted Scott the room number and shucked her jacket when they got inside. She collapsed on the bed. It was the first time in over an hour that she had really let herself breathe. Derek leaned against the door and seemed to do the same. He watched her carefully, seemingly scrutinizing her.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "What?"

"You surprised me tonight. You fought with me. Why?"

"I wasn't kidding when I said that I wanted to be allies—and more than just because it means we can hook up."

"You pushed me out of the way of an exploding arrow," he stated as though it hadn't fully sunk in.

"Yea, well, no one should die like that. And you're kind of growing on me." She added, closing her eyes so she didn't have to look at him.

There was a long pause. "You're bleeding." Derek finally spoke. He really didn't know what else to say without taking the conversation in a direction he wasn't prepared for. "And it's getting all over the bed."

Royce lifted her hand to cover her neck, but that cut was very superficial. It wasn't wet anymore—the blood had dried. She opened her eyes and looked down at her stomach. Her shirt was struggling to sop up the crimson fluid and keep it from blending with the ugly purple and red flowered bedspread. "Yea, Allison got me pretty good with one of those knives. I think it was laced with wolfsbane or something. I can feel it healing, but it's slow. The running didn't help." She sighed and sat up. She scooted to the edge of the bed so that she dripped on it less.

Derek went into the bathroom and emerged with a couple of towels. Royce laughed a little, but stopped when the shaking made her cut burn. "Are you going to play nurse, Florence Nightingale?"

"Shut up and lean back."

She didn't argue, just followed orders. He knelt down and lifted her shirt slightly to get to the cut. Once again he was too tentative for Royce's taste. She rolled her eyes. She stood up straight and put her hands on top of his. "Do you have a thing about not taking my shirt off?"

"What?"

"When we were making out, you were too chicken to just make the move and now in weirdly similar circumstances you're shying away again."

He scoffed. "This isn't a similar circumstance. You're hurt."

"It's a cut! I'm not an invalid! You've got quite a bit of blood on your chest too buddy!" she exclaimed, smacking his bare chest with the back of her hand.

"Do you want me to clean you up or not?"

"I'd love you to." She pulled his hands away from her body. "Let me make it easier for you." With one swift motion she slip her tank top over her head and threw it on the dresser on the other side of the room. She leaned back and smirked. He sucked in a breath, raking his gaze over her torso and the lacing lingerie boosting her chest. "Go to town, my friend."

Derek cleared his throat and caught her eye. He glared at her. But she had to give him credit. He focused on the cut, gently cleaning it out with the damp towel. It felt better and better as he scrapped away the wolfsbane residue from the knife.

He finished and pressed a dry towel to the cut to stop the bleeding. He pulled his hands away and placed one of her s on top of the towel to hold it in place.

"Thank you," she told him sincerely.

He leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Thank you."

He pulled back and she smiled as she looked him in the eyes. "Anytime." She reached up to put her free hand on his chest.

"What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Seeing a side to you that I didn't know existed." She slipped her hand behind his neck. "One that I'm actually liking." She pulled him a little closer to her.

"Don't expect to see it again."

She grinned and leaned towards him when there was a pounding on the door. Derek let out a frustrated growl and got up to see who it was. Royce flopped back on the bed. Derek opened the door.

"Get in here now." Derek ordered gruffly. Royce looked up to see Scott and Stiles enter.

Stiles saw her shirtless and his face fell, "You've got to be kidding me."


	14. Chapter 13

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hey all! It's been a while! This chapter is sort of special because it has the speech that this entire story idea came from in it. I wrote the bulk of the speech before I wrote any of the storyline or plot, just the idea that sidekicks makes the best heroes and it all kind of spurned from there. So I hope you enjoy it. It only took thirteen chapters to get there. I hope you like it and I really hope you review because it makes me happy. And I like being happy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Thirteen

Derek didn't really understand the pained look on Stiles's face as he glanced back and forth between Derek's bare torso and Royce clad solely in jeans and a lacey purple bra. I mean the girl had a blood soaked towel pressed to her stomach. Clearly nothing had been happening at the moment.

But Stiles didn't really notice Royce's injuries, mainly because he was trying so desperately hard to stare at anything in the room that wasn't her chest.

Royce sighed and rose from the bed. Scott was grinning at her, thinking her plan had gone well until he saw that she was bleeding. He moved quickly toward her with concern, glaring back at Derek. "So your meeting didn't go well?" Scott asked with a dangerous growl, ready to attack if Royce confirmed his suspicions that Derek had hurt her.

Scott's sudden concern made Stiles finally take a good look at Royce. When he did, all of his jealousy and frustration with her evaporated. He flew to her side and immediately made her sit down so that he could assess her injuries.

"Stiles, I'm fine." She assured him, but it didn't stop him.

In his worry, he barely realized that his hands were all over her stomach and hips as he tried to make sure that she was okay. He was slightly panicked as he babbled on about something or another, the words of which Royce couldn't concentrate on because she was so hyper aware of every brush of his hand on her skin as though it left a trail of magnetic energy. He was almost making her nervous as he touched her and her heart was pounding so hard that it was making her eardrums rattle uncomfortably. She wished Scott and Derek would leave because the mix of nerves and the warmth of his hands felt so…she didn't know the word. Exciting, I guess, so exciting that she had to keep herself from shaking. She had to remember to breathe. The way that he was making her feel from an innocent touch was equally terrifying and exhilarating and he didn't even realize what he was doing to her. She had to speak to distract herself.

"No, it didn't. Your ex showed up just when we were getting along and she tried to kill him." She told Scott while nodding at Derek.

Stiles's hand ran up her side, searching for more injuries and she shivered. He caught her eyes and wordlessly shucked off the plaid flannel shirt that he wore over his t-shirt. She held it close to her and smiled in thanks. It smelled amazing—just like him. Her eyes shut as she breathed it in deep.

She opened them up again to find Stiles watching her with a curious smile. She shook her head. She needed some air. She forced Scott and Stiles to stop fawning over her and stood up, walking over to stand next to Derek.

Stiles noticed that she had two tattoos as she walked away from. He caught sight of some sort of saying in another language across her shoulders and a picture on her hipbone that he couldn't quite make out before she slipped on and buttoned up the flannel shirt. "Holy…" he mumbled to himself as he realized that the picture seemed to sink deep below where her jeans began. He found himself thinking that he would really like to see the whole thing some day.

It was strange. Stiles had seen Royce in many ways—he knew that she was funny and sarcastic enough to keep up with him. She was smart and bold and terrifying at times. She was also very clearly beautiful. He had described her as hot once, but that wasn't quite right because she was too classic for that word. But as he took in her tattoos against her tan, bare skin and remembered he sight of her in that body-hugging bra he truly realized for the first time how inherently sexy she was. And he wished that he were in the motel room with her under different circumstances. Ones that didn't involve his best friend and Derek.

Thankfully before they go too far, Royce's voice derailed Stiles's train of thought. "So I think it's safe to say that Allison knows about me—and she's probably not very happy with me right now."

"Did you hurt her?" Scott asked slowly, trying to keep himself in control.

"Not intentionally—I self-defensed her into a wall on which she may have bumped her head." Royce explained quickly.

Scott's eyes flashed yellow and he emitted an angry growl.

"Don't you dare go yellow eyes on me, McCall! She's fine. I'm the one who held back enough to let her stab me over actually hurting her."

Scott breathed heavily to calm himself down.

"Scott, she didn't have choice. She saved my life." Derek spoke up on her behalf.

"Well thank God for that!" Stiles added sarcastically with a glare at Derek. But Scott had sufficiently calmed down. Stiles turned his glare to Royce. "What exactly were you guys doing when they showed up? How did they get the jump on you?"

Royce did not appreciate Stiles's accusatory tone. She did nothing wrong. She turned her stern expression away from Stiles to shoot Derek a smile. Derek watched her curiously. "We were just getting better acquainted. Got distracted."

Stiles huffed and moved to the point of the room that was farthest from Derek and Royce. Royce had to work hard to avoid Scott's look of disapproval at her antics.

"So what are we going to do about Allison?" Royce asked, feeling the immediate guilt of trying and succeeding to get a rise out of Stiles. She needed to change the subject.

"We aren't doing anything about Allison. She's not a problem to be solved." Scott snapped, his anger level rising again.

"Don't snap at me. That's not what I meant. I like Allison and I don't want anything to happen to her, but she can't go around stabbing people. She's becoming dangerous, not just to us, but to herself." She crossed her arms over her body, as though to shield herself from the glares she was receiving from the two people she had gotten closest to over the past few weeks.

"I can try to talk to her. Maybe get her to stop." Scott suggested.

"And if you can't?"

Scott had no answer.

"We aren't going to be able to deal with the Big Bad that's coming if we're always looking over our shoulders for a vengeful huntress." Royce warned.

Stiles leaned forward with his hands in his pockets, gearing up for the backlash of what he was about to say. "What if we talk to Mr. Argent?"

"How would that possibly help? He hates Derek as much as Allison does."

Derek scowled and crossed his arms.

"And I can't really blame him," Stile began, "but I think it's been proven time and again that Chris Argent is a pretty decent and moral guy. He's teamed up with us to fight the greater evil twice now. If we can convince him that what's coming is worse than you guys, he might help. He could convince Allison to do the same."

"Stiles might be on to something. Allison is so angry that she's reckless. Convince him of that and you bring him on our side. We could use any allies we can get against the raksasha." Royce added on to Stiles's argument, trying to convince Scott.

"Yea, we can tell him about the alpha pack too. The more immediate enemy might bring him over to our side faster. I'm sure he'll be happy to hunt them down." Stiles suggested with a shrug.

Royce shot a look of panic in Scott's direction. He shook his head like he didn't know what to tell her. Stiles caught the end of the exchange before Royce could neutralize her expression. He narrowed his eyes. He hated feeling like he was being left out of a secret.

Scott cleared his throat before speaking. "I'm not so sure that the alpha pack is the problem." Derek and Stiles looked at him like he had three heads.

Royce piped up to defend him. "I agree. I mean they haven't touched us yet. How do we know they're enemies? Maybe they could help."

Once again, neither Derek nor Stiles really responded to the idea that the alpha pack might be potential allies. Scott took back control of the conversation. "Maybe we should focus on the Argents for now. Circle back to the alphas later."

Royce nodded and moved to sit down on the bed. She laid back and closed her eyes, listening as Scott and Derek started talking strategy almost exclusively back and forth with one another.

After almost fifteen minutes of listening to them argue, trapped in a conversation that seemed to have no end, Royce announced that she was going to go find something to drink. She sprung up from the bed and left the room. She sighed when she heard the door open and close again after her. She walked down a long hallway to the little inset room that housed the vending machines. She studied the drink options. She could feel him hovering behind her.

She pressed her head against the plastic pane of the vending machine. "You have something to say?" she finally asked.

"Derek? Really? That's who you're going for?" Stiles asked.

Royce spun around to face him. "Excuse me? Um…Lydia—really?" she spat back.

Stiles shook his head, but he had trouble getting his words out. "No, it's not the same thing."

"It is to me."

Stiles sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "It shouldn't be. It's different with Lydia and me. You and Derek shouldn't happen."

"Why not?" Royce argued. "You were hooking up with another girl, Stiles. You like another girl! I told you I don't want to wait around. I don't see any reason why I can't hang out with Derek."

"How about that he's an ass? How about that you've known Derek for a total of ten minutes and he was a dick to you?"

"It's more like an hour and a half now." Royce interrupted him, planting a smirk on her face just to get under his skin.

It worked. His shoulders slumped, but he pressed on. "I've known Lydia for years. She's been the only girl I've really thought about since the third grade. At least until…" He threw his hands up in Royce's direction, but didn't finish the sentence. "So I _have_ to see what it's like to be with her. I'm not sure I would be able to forgive myself if I let my dream girl pass me by without giving it a shot."

Royce's chest felt tight and she had to fight to keep her facial expression stern. She turned away from Stiles to jam some quarters into the vending machine slot. "Sure, I get it. But don't give me crap about Derek when you're with her."

"But it's Derek!" Stiles shouted at her back, completely flummoxed.

Royce whirled around to face him again. She was finally fed up with his unwarranted anger at her. "Stop! You are _such_ a hypocrite. If I can believe that somewhere underneath all of her awfulness that the good soul that you see in Lydia is real, then you need to leave it alone and agree that Derek can be a decent guy." She raised an eyebrow at him as if waiting for a response, but he couldn't seem to give her one. She was on a roll now though and she had something to say to him. "And you know what? Your explanation is bullshit. You've been in love with her since the third grade? I'm guessing she's changed a lot since then. You too probably. And not in that 'cute couple that changes and grows together' kind of way, but in the 'she completely ignored you and pretended you didn't exist for years' kind of way. I'm guessing she is a completely different person from the little girl who you connected with. So I hate to break it to you, but your label for her was actually kind of perfect. She is your _dream_ girl—as in an illusion. This girl you have idealized in your head doesn't exist. So go give it a shot and have fun coming to that realization." Royce turned back to the machine and punched at the buttons for her drink.

"Good advice. Thanks," he said sarcastically and she could hear his footsteps walk away from her.

She let her frustration get the best of her for a moment and slammed her hand into the thick plastic of the vending machine so hard that she dented it severely. Her drink popped out of the slot and rolled across the floor into the hallway. She immediately regretted everything she said. Her goal wasn't to push Stiles away from her, but that's exactly what she was going. She took a deep breath and bent to scoop up her soda. When she turned to go back to the room, she saw that Stiles hadn't gone inside. Instead he was sitting against the wall next to the motel room door.

She approached him slowly and stopped in front of him. "Stiles, I'm sorry." She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry that I said all of that. I didn't want to be the girl that acted like that. She's jealous and awful and petty. I don't want to be that. I'm sorry."

Stiles looked up at her. "I gotta say that I like this girl better."

She laughed a little in relief. "Good. Because the jealous, angry girl who says things just to spite people is gone." She lightly kicked his foot with her own. "I promise." She held her hand out to him in an offer to help him up. "You coming in?"

Stiles waved her off. "No, I think it's pretty clear that the heroes are doing fine without me. You should go on in."

Royce tilted her head to the side to study his defeated expression. She didn't listen to him, instead choosing to sit down next to him. "That doesn't sound like you." She shook her head. "You're always the first one to try and figure out a plan. It's an annoyingly charming quirk of yours."

"How can I make a plan if I don't know all the pertinent information?"

"Huh?"

"You and Scott are keeping something from me."

Royce doesn't deny it. "That's never stopped you before."

"Yea, well they don't seem to need me. More and more lately I feel like I'm completely out of the loop and unnecessary." He gave her a pointed look to make it clear that he didn't like that she was hiding something from him or maybe that she hadn't told him about her plan with Derek. Or both. "I can't be trusted apparently. Not like Scott. Or even Derek. They're the heroes. They can figure it all out."

She ignored it. "This is a really sad, little pity party that you're throwing for yourself."

"What? Are you telling me I'm wrong? Isn't this why you like Derek? He's the badass alpha—the hero type. I just feel like bumbling sidekick who gets in the way and makes things worse lately."

She didn't really know where this was coming from. Guilt for hurting her by being with Lydia or sadness at the thought that she had chosen Derek to replace him, maybe? It didn't matter. She thought that it was all ridiculous. "Oh my God! Shut up! You need to learn a little known fact. Are you ready? You are one of the main reasons that everything in this town hasn't gone to complete shit. You don't even realize how important you are. Yea, you're right. Heroes are the bad-asses. They get the glory and the girls and they save the world, but half the time they need more saving than anyone. And who does you think does that? Who are the ones that listen to them and support them when all that they want to do is give up? Who are the ones that have their backs no matter what and risk their lives to help the hero without a question?" Stiles tried to answer, but Royce silenced him with a hand motion. "Rhetorical questions! Look, sidekicks may get a bum rap, but there wouldn't be so many of them if they weren't so vitally important. And Scott's lucky because he has just about the best one I've ever seen." Royce could feel Stiles's eyes on her, but she was staring down at her hands. "Sometimes, not always but…sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

Suddenly Royce felt Stiles's fingers on her chin and he was tilting her face up to make her look at him. He had a half smile on her face. He wasn't entirely sure how he was going to respond until the words came spilling out of his mouth. "I don't need the glory, but are the heroes the _only_ ones who get the girl?"

Royce pulled her face away from his touch. It felt too nice. She got to her feet. "Depends on the girl," she answered almost sadly. She didn't want those words to linger for too long. She held her hand out to him to lift him up. "So what do ya say, Robin? You gonna help us win or what?"

Stiles took her hand and let himself be pulled to his feet. "Do I really have to be Robin?" he groaned.

"Would you prefer Batgirl?"

"God, no! I think that suits you better." Royce smiled and Stiles kept talking. "So clearly Scott is Batman—Allison is making a play for Catwoman. So who is Derek?"

A smug smile dropped across Royce's mouth. "If we're going by the JLA, he can be our Superman." She wiggled her eyebrows as she pulled the motel key from her pocket.

Stiles gagged at her.

Royce laughed. "Okay, okay. Let's cross universes over to Marvel then. Derek can be Wolverine." Stiles couldn't help but laugh at the suggestion as he followed her inside.


	15. Chapter 14

**Heroes & Sidekicks**

"Sometimes sidekicks make the best heroes."

**Author's Note**: Hey guys, it's been awhile! Hopefully this chapter makes up for the long wait, but if it doesn't in your mind then sucks for you. Sorry it's been so long-work has gone crazy and I have to say with such an amazing season three so far it's a little harder to write an alternative season to that. I hope you all are still reading and enjoying though! Please review if you can, they help me keep writing in what seems to be coming down to the home stretch of the story. Thank you current reviewers and readers. You're the best!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters.

Chapter Fourteen

Scott rubbed at his eyes and groaned. He blinked to clear his vision and checked the clock. It had been hours. "I have a bad feeling about this whole plan…" he started to say as he glanced over several papers with chicken scratch handwriting scrawled across them.

"But?" Royce prompted from him her cross-legged position on the bed next to Stiles.

"But I don't know how to change that and my mom will be pissed if I don't get home soon." He looked to Stiles expectantly.

"Yea, I'm burnt out anyway. Let's get going." Stiles said and rolled off the bed. He followed Scott towards the door and turned back for Royce. "I can give you a ride home."

Royce hesitated to answer as she looked back and forth between Stiles and Derek. "Oh, um…yea." She said, drawing out the last word as she tried to find the right words to say to him. "Thank you, but I'm actually going to hang around here a little longer." She answered, deciding that it was best that she stayed the night with Derek rather than going back to her pack.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

She spoke slowly as she came up with a story that could be true. "Well, I'm worried about Allison still out there. My aunt and uncle are safer if they aren't with me when she comes looking." Scott glared at her, she assumed for digging herself into a deeper hole when it came to lies about who she really was. And it wasn't even worth it. It was clear that Stiles wasn't buying it, but he wasn't going to nail her on it.

Instead he decided to hit her where it hurt. "Yea, okay. Let's go Scott. I owe Lydia a call." Stiles brushed passed Derek and out of the room.

Scott moved to follow, but stopped when she called out his name. "Scott! You understand why I can't go home, right?" she asked slowly, trying to get him to understand that she couldn't face her pack—didn't want to see them—without actually having to say it.

Scott seemed to understand. He softened his gaze and nodded before leaving.

Royce rubbed at her eyes and laid back on the bed. She blinked a few times, trying to get the headache that was starting to form to fade away.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Derek studying her. "Jeez!" She jumped, not expecting him to be so close and so focused on her. "What is that look for? Creepy!"

Derek didn't even flinch. "So you and Stiles have a thing, huh?"

Her initial instinct was denial, but she didn't want Derek to think she had a natural predilection for lying.

"Not exactly."

"But you like him?"

Royce took a moment and sighed. "You get that impression from us saying goodbye?" She asked, trying to turn the conversation around on him.

It wasn't working. "Yea, and ya know, werewolf hearing. Your conversation in the hallway wasn't exactly sub-sonic."

She swallowed hard. She didn't like how difficult it was to talk about her current standing with Stiles. It just sucked. "He's in love with Lydia," she answered instead of revealing her feelings.

Derek cocked his head to the side as he studied her. "I'm not really sure that's true anymore, but skipping right over that point: You didn't actually answer my question."

"My answer doesn't matter. The last time I saw Stiles they were connected at the lips."

Derek winced, almost on her behalf. "Your answer matters to me."

She looked down to avoid Derek's gaze. "Yea. I do, okay? I like him. I feel really weird talking to you about this. But I've liked him since we first met. A lot."

She could feel him move above her and the bed sank down next to her. "So then why did you come looking for me?"

Royce leaned back until she was being propped up by his shoulder. "Are you complaining?" she asked with a smile.

Derek didn't answer. He just nudged her in a way that made it clear that he was done with her evasive answers.

She scowled, but gave in. "Okay, fine. Ya know that liplock?" He nodded. "That happened today—right before I came to your hideout." Royce rubbed at her temple. "For some reason, it made me think that I should immediately start working on getting to know you better."

What he did next genuinely surprised her. He started laughing. It actually startled her. First because it was a weird time to laugh, but second and mostly because Derek didn't seem like a big laugher. He was made for brooding and snarling.

Her head shot up and she had to smile in spite of her discomfort. She saw the way his eyes kind of shined and the way his mouth crinkled upward to show off his pretty much perfect teeth. It turned out laughing really suited him. If she didn't have the constant thought of Stiles hanging out in the back of her mind, she would have been dangerously close to melting. Instead of listening to her body, she chose to question him.

"What's funny?" she asked in a high-pitched voice that she barely recognized as her own.

"This is just not where I expected this day to go."

"Yea, I'm sorry."

"What? For using me?"

Royce opened her mouth to protest, but it just turned into a wince. "I guess I did. But to be fair to myself and maybe assuage a little bit of my guilt, you weren't really complaining at the time."

"Are you kidding? Of course not. I had a good time." The way he was looking at her, she knew he was thinking about what they were doing right before Allison crashed the party. It was one of those looks so typical to guys who had just gotten or were about to get lucky that she was once again surprised to find such an average expression on Derek's face. That look was making her cheeks feel hot.

"Yea, I did too," she admitted. "In fact, I would be up for a repeat performance some time."

Derek nodded. "I think I could live with that."

Royce laughed and shoved him a little. "Oh really?"

"If you can promise me that there will be no daydreaming of Stiles while with me, yes."

Royce looked at him uncomfortably. She couldn't promise that and Derek could tell. He tried to salvage the moment.

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded. It sounded possessive, but it wasn't. I don't want to be in a relationship with you."

Royce raised her eyebrows.

"Okay I didn't mean that the way it sounded either." Derek covered his face with his hands and Royce had to admit to herself that she was taking great joy in watching him stick his foot in his mouth. "I don't want a relationship with anyone. They never end well for me. But there is something between us that's pretty strong I think." He brushed a hand up her side and she knew he was right by how much she was dying to grab him right then and there. "But you like Stiles, which is cringe-worthy and confusing. I don't understand how someone who's attracted to me can like that kid."

Royce shoved him to get him to shut up. She had a feeling that part of him was joking, but she wanted him to stop either way. "Anyway you have to admit that you and I earlier, it was hot. There's a mutual appreciation here. It was just really good…" He seemed to forget the rest of his sentence.

"Stress relief?" she suggested.

"Exactly." He grinned. "I'd pretty much be down for some more 'stress relief' any time. It kind kills the mood though if I know you're thinking about him. Besides I don't want to cause any issues with Stiles—we already have enough tension between us as it is. And like I said I really don't want a relationship."

He was rambling and it was amazing, but Royce decided it was time to put an end to it. "Got it. No relationship. How would you feel about a friendship?"

He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Hear me out," she continued. "Stiles and I are complicated. And I understand all of your concerns, but I kind of realized something today."

She waited for him to chime in so that she knew he was paying attention. "What's that?"

"I actually kind of like and respect you as a person for some reason. Even more so now that I've heard you speak more words in the last ten minutes than I thought I would ever hear you speak in my life." She gave him a little smile to let him know she was joking. "We also have more in common than I'd like to admit and you have to give it up that we made a pretty good team against the hunters."

"We did," he agreed.

"I'd say that we're suited pretty well to be friends."

Derek took a long moment of consideration. "I could go for that," he finally answered.

Royce held out her hand and he took it in his own firmly. They both lingered in the handshake, neither letting go of the other. She stared down at their hands and then looked up at him from under her eyelashes. "Just so you know, I wouldn't be opposed to adding a few benefits to this friendship."

"Seriously?" He asked and she couldn't tell by his tone what he thought of her suggestion.

She took a deep breath and decided to go for broke. The idea was already out there. "Very seriously. Because honestly I still have a little left over stress." Her foot twitched as she waited for his reaction.

His jaw clenched in a way that was so sexy that it drove her a little crazy. "Good." Derek finally gave a simple answer before yanking her hand toward his chest and pulling her lips to his own. She smiled into the kiss and felt the stress fading away.

* * *

Royce and Derek spent the rest of the night relieving their stress, bouncing back and forth between talking to one another and making out until they fell asleep. She made sure to keep it pretty tame between them, knowing that she would never be able to redeem herself with Stiles if she went too far yet. She wasn't ready to give up on him. Derek may have preferred a little more (which he may have brought up a couple of times), but he seemed to ultimately understand.

The next morning Royce woke up before Derek to shower and get ready for school. When he got up, it wasn't awkward like she had expected. There was no 'morning after' discomfort. It felt friendly and normal. She headed to school (with a quick stop at the alpha lair to grab a change of clothes). She spent most of the day avoiding all of the people that she had come to think of as friends (and one redhead that she had come to think of a rival).

Unfortunately that did not keep her from seeing Lydia with her hands all over Stiles in the hallway before lunch. Royce gritted her teeth and tried to ignore them, but she couldn't stop herself from glancing over. Lydia had herself pressed up against him with his back against a set of lockers. She had her left hand wrapped around the back of his neck and her right hand crept up his shirt. It was definitely not appropriate for the school hallways. And it made Royce feel nauseous. Especially when she noticed that Jackson was looking on in the same pained way that she was. Lydia noticed too. In fact, she kept flicking her eyes back and forth as if to make sure Jackson was watching their display. Stiles didn't seem to notice, or maybe he just didn't mind, what she was doing—throwing him in Jackson's face like that. No, instead Stiles had a look on his face that seemed stuck between fascination and panic.

Despite the mix of feelings he seemed to be dealing with, it was like Stiles sensed she watching him. He caught her eye and he dropped the fascination. Now it was more of a combination platter of dread and guilt mashed on top of that original panic. She let out a deep breath as he caught Lydia's roaming hands and pulled them in front of him in an effort to give Royce a break. It didn't really help. She did her best to lift one corner of her mouth high enough to be considered a half (or probably more like a quarter) of a smile. He returned it, but he could tell that she was hurting which made it hard to smile back.

She dragged her eyes away from his and took a moment to compose herself. She reminded herself that she still had Derek, but that wasn't really doing it for her. She shook it off and closed her locker before heading towards the cafeteria. She passed Jackson on the way and couldn't help but reach out. She patted him lightly on the shoulder. "I know how you feel," she told him. He looked at her like she had two heads, which was understandable considering that was the only thing she had ever said to him. Whatever.

Royce turned the corner down what she thought was an empty hallway only to be violently shoved up against a locker. Wow, Stiles was really throwing her off of her game.

"Where is he?" Allison demanded with an arm against Royce's neck and a knife pressed against her stomach that was hidden by her jacket sleeve.

"Allison, don't do anything you'll regret," she warned.

"I'm not."

"Are you forgetting where we are? That you're on Candid Camera?" Royce nodded to the added security cameras that Allison's own family had installed in the school.

She faltered and took a step backwards.

Royce took a moment to stretch out her neck. "Are the other hunters from last night okay?" she asked a question that had been nagging at her since last night.

"They're fine," Allison answered tersely.

"And you?" Her eyes flicked to the top of Allison's head where she crashed against the wall.

"I don't need _you_ to worry about me!" she spat. "Tell me where Derek is and you and I won't have an issue."

"I can't do that."

Allison's eyes flashed, but Royce emitted a low growl that stopped her next action. "I want him dead." Allison warned, "and I don't care who gets in my way because they won't be there long."

It was clearly a threat and Royce was over it. "Okay now, I understand that you hate him, but I don't appreciate the threats. I've been nice until now because I genuinely like you and I don't want to hurt the girl that Scott is in love with, but you come after me again and I won't hold back this time. I've faced a lot worse than you in my past so you need to watch yourself and who you attack."

"You don't understand! I need to find him."

"I probably understand more than anyone."

"No! He killed my mom!" It came out of her in a half shout, half sob. Her eyes were blurred with tears, but her stance was strong.

Royce shook her head. "He didn't! He bit her and she did what she thought she had to do according to some stupid family code!" She shot right back, hoping she was getting all the details that she had gathered from Derek and Scott correct.

"It's his fault that she's dead," she argued.

"And I would probably hate him too, but he was just protecting Scott."

Allison stumbled back a few steps. "What?" She seemed shocked and confused and a lot more fragile than she had just moments ago.

"Your mom was trying to kill Scott and when Derek went to save him they fought. He bit her to fend off the giant knife that she was trying to stab him with." Royce explained.

Allison was breathing heavily and her eyes were completely unfocused. "No." She repeated it a few times under her breath.

Royce felt the need to start talking just to snap her out of it. "I'm sorry. I thought that Scott had told you and that it didn't matter. I was just trying to get through to you. I've been where you are. I know what it's like to have family taken away from you. I know what it's like to think you need revenge. But take it from my own experience, getting revenge won't make you feel any better and it won't change the way things are."

Royce could tell that Allison hadn't been completely listening, but her voice seemed to stem the oncoming panic attack that Allison seemed to be on the verge of having.

Allison looked down at the knife still in her hand and backed away. "I—I have to go find Scott." She managed to stutter out before taking off down the hallway.

Royce groaned and slid down the lockers until she was sitting on the ground. "I'm so done with this day," she told herself as she realized what she had just done. It would have been much less emotionally traumatic if Royce had just taken the opportunity to try to get Allison to give her father a message instead of blowing the girl's image of her deceased mom into a thousand pieces. She stayed sitting for a long while before she could gather the energy to crawl to her feet and blow off the rest of the school day.

* * *

Stiles dragged himself through the hallways before his last period class and just wished that the day would come to an end. He had been itching to talk to Royce all day, but he didn't know what to say to her. He was too confused to even know what he was feeling, let alone tell her what that was.

He had clearly been lost in his own thoughts because he didn't even see it coming when he was suddenly yanked forward by the collar of his hoodie and thrust into a storage closet. Through the whirlwind of red hair and twirl of her perfect yet inappropriately short skirt, Stiles focused enough to see Lydia shutting the door behind her to leave the two of them alone.

She turned back to him with a sultry smile across her lips. "Hey there," she practically purred as she approached him.

"What are you doing?" he asked. He was honestly not all that excited that she had brought him there. He needed time to think and this wouldn't help. He also hadn't failed to notice that she was trying to throw their new relationship (or whatever it was) in Jackson's face earlier.

"I missed you," she said, pushing her lips out into a pout. She stopped in front of him and lifted herself up with her toes to reach his mouth.

Stiles pulled his head back. His reaction surprised himself even more than it surprised Lydia. Did he really just do that? He couldn't fully process what he was about to do, but somehow it felt right so he just went with it. "Why'd you miss me? Did you get into another fight with Jackson?"

Lydia dropped back down to her heels. She raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. They were in a dimly lit, enclosed space and she had her full attention on him. She was giving him her typical attitude mixture of irritating stubbornness and sass that he had actually always kind of loved. She was basically standing in front of him acting as sexy as he'd ever seen and he could finally have her. But now he didn't really care.

Weirdly enough, it didn't compare to how Royce had looked dressed in his plaid shirt last night. Not to mention how she looked when it _hadn't_ been on her. A shiver ran up his spine as he remembered.

"So what if we did? Does that matter?" Lydia spoke and Stiles had to struggle to remember what they had been talking about. Right—Jackson.

"Ya know what? It does."

"Excuse me?"

He could tell by her tone that he needed to tread carefully or he might end up with a knee to the groin. He turned his pelvis slightly to the side just in case. He sighed before he spoke, trying to gather his thoughts. "There was a point in time when I would have take this—" He pointed between the two of them, "in any way, any place, any time, any positi—."

"I get it!" Lydia snapped to stop the babble.

Stiles nodded and continued from his train of thought. "I just…I'm not sure that I feel that way anymore."

Lydia narrowed her eyes, "Your not sure how you feel?" she asked skeptically.

Stiles cleared his throat. "Okay, fine. I know that I don't feel that way anymore."

"Are you saying that you don't want me?" She emphasized her incredulous tone by motioning her hands up and down her body in a way that made it clear that she knew she was flawless.

Stiles's eyes followed her hand and he had to admit that she was still the gorgeous girl that he had dreamed and fantasized about for years. But he also realized that nothing she was saying or doing had even put a ding in his resolve. He met her eyes again. "Lydia, I'm saying that you make the most perfect, sexiest Black Widow in the world, but that doesn't mean you belong with Hawkeye." Royce's face popped into his head and he smiled as he imagined how she made him feel every time he looked into her bright violet eyes. "I want to be with Mockingbird and she's not in this room."

Lydia was just staring at him now with a slightly offended, but mostly puzzled look on her face. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't speak nerd."

He wasn't insulted. He actually grinned even wider. "Exactly!" He spun her around so that she was no longer blocking his path to the door. "Royce does," he explained simply and swept out of the closet, leaving Lydia to wonder what the hell had just happened.


End file.
